When It's Not Too Late
by sk8ergirl24
Summary: Mitchie Torres is lost. She could care less if she was found. That is until the Gray's find her, make her a part of their home, and give her a chance to have a life she never thought she could live. Smitchie AU
1. Prologue

**I dunno what's wrong with me and what possessed me to start writing a new story, but this idea has been bugging me for weeks and I just had to get down. I am also not aware of what possessed me to write something like this. I think I got bored with all the good girl Mitchie fics, and this is just a new challenge. I'll update IIWIN at some point, but for now, I'd appreciate feedback on this, because I'm very unsure about it since it's so different from everything else I've written. It's gonna be rated M for just about everything under the sun, so be warned. Not all chapters are gonna be this dark, I promise, but they're necessary. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock, just the random characters I create that will pop up in the story.

* * *

**

**Prologue**

_There is nothing worse than being this dump of an apartment_, Mitchie Torres thought bitterly as she climbed through the fire escape that led into her shitty excuse of a bedroom. She hardly spent anytime in there. Most of the time she was sneaking out of it. All that decorated it was a bed and a few random pieces of clothing that she had either borrowed or stolen. Mainly stolen. She didn't have too many friends to borrow from. The people she associated with couldn't even be given the title of acquaintances. Just random people who could get her a quick release whenever she needed one. Of course, it seemed like she was always needing one of those.

It was nearing two in the morning and she was tired as shit. As soon as she shut her window after climbing in, she collapsed on her bed, trying desperately to ignore where she was. The place that she was supposed to call home. She always tried, but it never worked. The place reeked of drugs and stale alcohol. If you weren't used to it, it would more than likely make you nauseous. But Mitchie was used to it. Spent most of her life trying to get used to it, or at least get to a point that she could just block it out. It got a little easier to stand when she started using the drugs herself, and she was familiar with it. But her mom always got pissed when Mitchie tried to steal some of the drugs that she brought home. Mitchie had once found a packet of cocaine in her moms room. She had been ready to shove it in her pocket and sneak out so she could do it without worrying if her mom was gonna bust her with it. But before she could smuggle it into the pocket of her worn jeans, the door flew open with her mom on the other side, absolutely fuming. And totally high. She had started yelling and screaming, but she was so high that she was completely incoherent. But Mitchie didn't need ears to feel the pain of the slap her mom hit her with across the face.

It had been the first time her mom had ever hit her, Mitchie recalled. And the last. Mitchie had been fourteen at the time, but she wasn't just gonna stand around and get the shit slapped out of her by her own mother. So Mitchie had slapped back. Harder. It had been easy to overpower her. Mitchie had been clean and sober at the time, and her mom was about as high off her ass as she could get. After that, Mitchie had ran from the apartment, down the fire escape as usual. She always ran. But she always came back. As tough as she was, she wasn't stupid enough to camp out on the street in the middle of the night in the wrong side of Baltimore. But she always stayed away for as long as she could.

And that night was the night she had met Brian James. The first of many steps in the process of nearly getting herself killed for good.

She was seventeen years old now, and her life wasn't any better than it had been three years ago. It just seemed like the older she got, the worse and more complicated her life got.

It had become a regular thing for her to go out and get stoned or high or basically whatever the hell she wanted. She had pretty good connections now thanks to Brian.

Mitchie had been lying in bed now for a good hour, trying to force herself out of this world and into sleep, even if it were just for a few hours. It was an escape. And she'd take all of those she could get. Then she heard the door slam open. She didn't think to much of it, figuring it was just her mom, pathetically drunk after another one of her binges. The hysterical laughter proved it. But then she heard something else that made the muscles in Mitchie's stomach tighten. Another voice. A male voice. Mitchie never liked it when her mom brought guys home. Because they were either drunk or stoned as well. She never knew what they would do if they got bored with her mom and wandered around the apartment looking for another form of entertainment. Mitchie's breath caught in fear just at the thought.

"Shit," She said and realized she couldn't stay.

She immediately staggered off her bed, trying to find her shoes and shoving them one when she did. It only took her seconds to shove her window open and climb down the fire escape to get to the alley behind the apartment building.

But now she was pissed because she wasn't going to be getting any sleep. She sure as hell wasn't going to crash in the back of any alley. All the gangs were out at this time, and if you ran into the wrong one at the wrong time, you were screwed. Mitchie knew this almost better than anyone. Even if she had connections with Brian and his gang, it still scared the shit out of her to be out this late at night in the part of town she was in. She may have been cool with Brian's gang, but she sure as hell wasn't with the rival gangs who were always looking to start some sort of turf war. It was the worst thing in the world getting caught in the middle of one of those.

"Yo, Torres," She froze for a moment before the raspy voice finally registered in her brain. Sje sighed in relief and turned and saw Brian walking towards her. She knew his gang wouldn't be far behind him. They hardly ever split up during this hour.

He looked the same as he always did. His blond, greasy hair hung down his forehead and over his dark green eyes. He looked a few years older than his age of twenty-two, but that had never really bugged Mitchie before. He had more connections than anyone in Baltimore, and she considered herself lucky just to be on his good side.

"Brian," She acknowledged and took notice of the purple bandanna that was wrapped around his head. All the gangs had different colors so everyone knew who belonged to who. Mitchie always though that was stupid. Putting it out there just got you shot by a rival gang member.

"What are you doin' out her, huh? Told you it was stupid to be out here during war time." Mitchie never knew why he watched out for her. He had no reason to. A part of her actually thought that maybe he really cared about her. But she knew that was the stupidest thing she could come up with. These guys didn't care about anything but themselves. They lived to survive. It was all a game of survival. They had no other choice.

"Got fucking tired of my place." She used as an explanation.

Brian just scoffed. "Shit, Torres. It can't be half as bad as it is out here."

"I can take care of myself, Brian."

He scoffed again. "Oh yeah? And what if Tony's gang showed up? You're tough, but you ain't no match for nine guys with guns."

He had a point. Tony had one of the toughest gangs in Baltimore. You mess with him or his crew, and you were dead. Point blank, no mercy.

Mitchie shook her head. She knew he was right, but it's not like she had any other choice. She sure as hell wasn't going back to that damn apartment.

"Whatever, Brian. I can't worry about that right now."

"Come on, Torres. I can't be worrying about my girl getting shot down by some lame ass trying to steal our turf."

Brian seemed to have this notion that Mitchie was his girl. Yes, they had a thing. But it wasn't serious. When you were stoned, you would have a thing with just about anybody. But Brian had this weird attachment thing to Mitchie now, and she didn't know what to make of it. But she wasn't about to get on his bad side. If Tony had the toughest gang in Baltimore, Brian had the second. She had to stay on their good sides no matter what.

"I'll be fine, Brian."

Before he could say anything, the rest of his gang stepped into the alley. Mitchie was always intimidated by the full gang. There were so many of them, and most of them had guns or knives. Some of them had both. They wouldn't hurt her, since she and Brian were sort of a thing, and that went against their rules, but still. Anyone would be intimidated.

"I ain't gonna tell you what to do, Torres. Just watch yourself." Brian said before grabbing her chin and forcing their lips together. He tasted of drugs and alcohol. But she didn't mind. She had gotten used to it. Figured it was normal.

He pulled away and gave her a look that she couldn't quite decipher before turning his back and heading towards his crew.

That was when she heard the squeal of tires. In this side of town, that was never a good sign. She whipped her head towards the street, where Brian's back was turned to, and felt her heart slam into the throat at the sight of the black SUV, with the windows rolled down and guns sticking out of them, aiming right for them. All of them. There was no hesitation when the shots went off. Coming from all the guns at once.

She felt the unbearable pain seeping through her, the shock and fear pounding into her system harder and faster than the bullets. Everything was going in slow motion. She could hear the guns over everything else. Could hear Brian's crew screaming and shouting out orders in the background. Soon they were taking their guns out and shooting back.

But Mitchie had already fallen onto the cold concrete. Feeling the pain and desperate need for death to take her and just be done with it already. She knew it was coming. It was inevitable. She could feel it taking her, dragging her under until she felt nothing at all.

* * *

At first she didn't feel anything. When she opened her eyes all she could see was a blurry image of white so bright it hurt her eyes. Was she dead? Did it finally happen? But then the pain came, almost as excruciating as before, except now it was more controlled. She feel the pain in her chest and side when she breathed. Lung. She had definitely gotten capped in her lung, or else it wouldn't have been so damn hard to take in a breath. Her shoulder ached and she knew she was shot there too. Everything ached. It took an extreme amount of effort to even blink. Why couldn't she have just died? Why are they continuing to put her through all this pain and suffering. Making her suffer through this life that she so desperately wanted out of.

She glanced down at her wrists, wincing when that one little move made her whole body ache. She could still see the marred skin, where she had once put a razor blade to it over and over again. That was when Dylan and Cam were still around. She had been at it for months before Dylan finally caught her and threw out all her razors, though he knew it was a useless action seeing as she would always find more. But she had promised him, and Cam, that she would stop. That it would be wrong to end her own life. To ruin her own potential. Though that was a stupid excuse. What potential did she have?

But she couldn't focus on that. Her heart was aching at thinking of Dylan and Cam. Her brothers. One escaped as soon as he turned eighteen and the other one was dead. She forced herself not to think of her late baby brother, but it was impossible. She missed him like she would miss her own arm. Dylan had a hard time dealing with it. That was another reason why he left, she was sure. He was so much older than her. He'd be nearly twenty-six by now. Cam would have been fifteen.

Her heart ached considerably.

Then the door opened and Mitchie felt her aching heart slam into her throat again.

What was going to happen to her now? There was no way her mom was gonna take her in now. She had sworn that one more screw up from Mitchie, and she would never take her in again. Fucking hypocrite.

The doctor that walked in was a lady, late thirties at least, Mitchie could tell. Had a nice, friendly smile. But Mitchie was scared shitless.

"Michaela," Mitchie winced at the use of her full name. "My name is Denise Gray. I'm a doctor from New Jersey on assignment here for a few days. I heard about you, and am willing to give you another option."

Mitchie stared at her for a minute, like she was crazy. She had to have been fucking mental.

"Huh?" Was all she could get out.

"You can either go back and stay with your mother," Mitchie shuddered at the idea. "Though your mother has made it known that she isn't all excited about that plan." Figures. "So it's either that, get thrown into the system and maybe find a foster family for you until you turn eighteen, which if I'm not mistaken, won't be for nearly another year." Well, yeah. Mitchie had just turned seventeen last month. Not that anyone had cared. "And your final option...you can come stay with me and my family in New Jersey."

Mitchie had thought the lady was fucking insane. Who the hell took in a seventeen year old from the bad streets of downtown Baltimore with countless drugs, alcohol, and three bullet wounds in them?

Nothing could be worse than that apartment though, Mitchie thought. And that was when she made up her mind to go to New Jersey with a complete stranger.

She was out of her fucking mind.

* * *

**Well, that would be the prologue. I'd love it if you told me what you thought and if it's worth my time to keep on writing this. I wrote this at like, three in the morning, so forgive me for any errors or anything like that. I was too tired to go back and proofread. **

**So, thanks for reading, and please take the time to write down what you thought, it doesn't have to be much, but I really need to know. :)  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**This turned out way longer than I thought it would, but this story is really rolling with me right now. The reviews I got from the prologue helped, they really inspire me too. I can never have enough inspiration, so please review! I'll love you forever! I really need to know how I'm doing with this, because this is very different than what I'm used to, so I really need some feedback. Please and thanks!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own.

* * *

**

**Chapter 1**

Mitchie scowled as she stared out of the window at the light rain that was pouring in the state of New Jersey. The drive from Baltimore to Denise Gray's hometown in New Jersey was a little over four hours, and Mitchie was fucking sick of sitting in a car. Denise had tried to make conversation, but Mitchie wasn't willing. She wasn't all too thrilled to be leaving her own city in the first place. She had the perfect connections back in Baltimore, could get whatever the hell she wanted when she wanted. But she was desperate to get away from that apartment, from the smells and just the feel of the place.

And she was fucking tired of getting shot.

Her shoulder was still sore, and still had the gauze wrapped on it, and her arm was stuck in one of those damn slings. She'd ditch it the first chance she got, when Denise wasn't looking. It was probably gonna suck being stuck with a doctor all the time, but it would sure as hell save her a lot of trouble. She was always finding some way to get shot or stabbed. It didn't help that most of the people she hung out with were gangs that were always high or drunk on something. That might be avoidable though, because from the looks of it there weren't any gangs in this lame ass town. They'd all be up in the big cities where the turf was actually worth fighting for.

For a second Mitchie entertained the thought of there being no gangs. No random drive-by's, no guns going off in the middle of the night keeping her from falling asleep. No having to worry about running into the wrong color and getting into some serious trouble.

It was such a foreign thought. She had grown up around gangs, and even though she was never formally apart of one, she associated with them. Mainly Brian's, especially after they hooked up for the first time. She knew if she had ever gotten herself into trouble with another gang, Brian would always have her back. It had always been a comforting thought, to know that she had ten guys protecting her and watching out for her.

She didn't have that anymore. No protection. Not that she needed it, she wouldn't be wandering into a rival gang anytime soon. They hardly ever left Baltimore unless they had to. And they wouldn't want to come after her unless they epically wanted to piss off Brian, but they had better things to do, more serious issues to deal with than trying to start a war for no good reason.

"We're getting close, the boys shouldn't be home, but you'll get to meet my husband, Paul."

Yeah, not only did she have to lose her connections in her city, but now she had to live with this doctor and her stupid family. Despite Mitchie's unwillingness to talk to Denise, she had no problem with talking Mitchie's fucking ear off. Mitchie tried to block it out, but it was so irritating, and some of it stuck with her.

Like the fact that she had three boys. One of them her age, Nate, she remembered Denise telling her. He sounded like a total dork. All of them did.

The middle one was named Shane, and he was nineteen. Was living with his parents while he went to college so he could save money and not have to live in a dorm or whatever.

Jason was the oldest one at twenty-three, and he lived in his own house a few blocks away with his wife, Danielle.

They all sounded fucking lame to Mitchie. Mama's boys it seemed with the way Denise was talking about them. She would bet that they were all total dweebs. She didn't even know them and she resented them already. They grew up with a perfect life. Didn't have to deal with their mom getting drunk or high, or whether she would bring home some beefy dude who had seen too many bottles of whiskey. No, they had it made, and it pissed Mitchie off.

What made them so fucking special? And why had Mitchie been left to rot in that damn apartment?

But then she reminded herself that Denise had saved her from that, and that she wasn't in that apartment anymore, and that she never had to go back.

That made her bite back some of her resentment. She didn't have to go with Denise. She had been given a choice, and she had chosen the one that would get her out of that living hell. Now she was going to have to deal with the changes. If things went bad she could always go back. But nothing could be worse than going back. She was sure of that. If the worse thing she had to do was put up with a bunch of dorks then she would be fine. She could easily take down a bunch of nerds if she had to. But she knew better than to get on people's bad sides. No matter who they were.

Just a few minutes later and Denise was pulling her SUV into the driveway of a nice sized house in the middle of what seemed like a quiet neighborhood. Of course, it was all different from where Mitchie came from and she wasn't sure what to make of it. It was so completely opposite of the world she grew up in.

It was still raining when she stepped out of the car, but she didn't care, it was just fucking water. She didn't know why people made such a big deal of getting umbrellas unless you used them to beat the shit out of somebody.

As soon as she stepped out of the car, a man came sauntering out of the front door of the house, whom Mitchie assumed to be Paul, Denise's husband. She was cautious as he approached her, she had grown up knowing that anyone could be dangerous, but then she felt stupid, because obviously she wasn't in Baltimore, and the rules she had grown up by didn't apply anymore. He looked friendly enough, he had a warm smile, and his eyes held no hardness in them. She wasn't used to seeing someone who was genuinely friendly. Even Brian never had that look about him.

"Hi," He said over the rain. "You must be Mitchie. I'm Paul, it's nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out and Mitchie just stared at it. No way was she going to touch him. She was still iffy about this whole thing to begin with.

Paul understood and immediately retracted his hand. His warm smile still planted on his face. "Come on, let's get out of this rain, I'll show you where your room is." She eyed him as he walked to the back of the SUV and took her lone back out and draped it over his shoulder before walking up the path towards the home. Mitchie narrowed her eyes, feeling weird about walking into a home filled with people she didn't know and didn't care to know.

"Come on, Mitchie. It's okay." Denise reassured and for some reason, Mitchie listened. It might have been stupid to, but she had nothing to lose. Crossing her arms over her chest, she took a breath and marched up the path behind Paul and into the warm house. When she stepped in, she realized it wasn't a house. It wasn't a place someone came back to just to sleep or drown your sorrows in alcohol. It was a home. It was where a family lived. A real family. It was very warm and welcoming, and Mitchie didn't think she'd ever get that feeling from just being in a place, didn't think that type of feeling even existed.

It wasn't overly spacious, there was plenty of room. But it also had that homey feel to it. Warm lights lit up the rooms, candles were scattered around so it gave the rooms a pretty smell. Definitely a contrast to the drugs and alcohol Mitchie's old place smelled like. It was nice and...comforting. Not that she would admit it. Ever.

She didn't have much time to look around as Paul led her up a staircase to where she assumed all the bedrooms were. There were six doors, three on each side, but only two were open. One being a small bathroom, and the other one was where Paul led Mitchie into, the third door on the right.

"This used to be our guest room, but it's your room now. We always let the boys do whatever they wanted to their rooms, so we didn't really do much to it. Figured you might wanna do some of it yourself."

"It's fine." She muttered. She never cared what her room looked like. It was just for sleeping. She spent most of her time elsewhere.

Paul just nodded his head. "Well, I guess I'll let you unpack, get your bearings together. Nate should be home from school soon. And Shane and Jason will be around tonight for dinner, Jason will probably bring Danielle along with him so you can meet everybody."

Mitchie just nodded, and crossed her arms over her chest, wincing slightly when her shoulder ached in protest. Paul noticed.

"Denise said you might need some pain meds. I'm sure she has them if you need to some."

Mitchie just shrugged, making her shoulder ache yet again. "I'm fine."

"Alright, well, come down if you need anything." And then he left, leaving the door wide open. At least he didn't linger or hover around her or anything. He understood when she needed space, and he gave it to her. Her resentment toward him died down just a little bit.

She sighed and shut the door, needing her own space. It'd be her first time truly alone in days, nearly a week since the drive-by. She had never been that close to dying before. And part of her wished that she would have. She had no idea what was waiting for her when she died, but she assumed that it had to be better than what her life had been. Nothing could be worse than that.

She yanked up her bag that Paul had carried in and immediately dumped the contents out of it and onto the bed. There was nothing but a few pairs of clothes and a hairbrush plus a cd that Dylan had made for her before he left. She never had much use for cd's, she couldn't afford anything to play them on. She had gotten away with stealing a crappy cd player from some stupid retail store, and that was the only thing she used, but Brian had ended up breaking it and that was the end of that.

After shoving her clothes into the drawers the Gray's had emptied out for her, she sat on the edge of the bed and looked around the room.

What the hell was she doing here? Why wasn't she back in Baltimore, smoking or drinking, or hanging out with Brian and his crew like she usually did? Because the last time she did that she ended up bleeding in a back alley with three bullets in her. She knew that her life would always be in danger if she wasn't careful, but that was the first time she had been as close to death as she was. And frankly, the thought of it happening again scared the shit out of her. Brian couldn't always protect her. Especially the times when he was so high or stoned he didn't know up from down.

But still, something about this didn't sit right with her. It felt like she was running away. Her mother didn't put up much of a fight when Denise asked for custody, her mom didn't give two shits about Mitchie, and she probably never would. At least now Mitchie would never have to worry about finding her mom dead on the living room floor from a cocaine overdose or something. It had always been a possibility, but now it was just someone elses problem. At least now Mitchie had a bed that didn't smell of drugs or sex. It smelled fresh and clean. A scent she had never come across before. It was refreshing.

But then she heard the door downstairs open and the sounds of a dog barking, greeting whoever had entered.

Huh. No one ever mentioned anything about a dog, Mitchie thought. She had never had a dog before. Obviously. Who would take care of it? She had always wondered what it would be like to have a dog, the thought had always appealed to her.

She assumed that Nate had been the one to come home which got the dog all riled up. She knew she should probably go downstairs and meet him, but then again, why the hell would she do that? She wasn't too thrilled to ever meet anyone knew. If he wanted to meet her he'd haul his ass upstairs and come to her first.

She froze when she heard a knock on the door.

Well, damn it all to hell. Who knew he'd actually have the guts to do it?

"Yeah?" She called out, wanting to get it over with.

The door cracked open and a boy, who was obviously around her age slid through the opening with a friendly smile on his face, much similar to his dad's.

"Hey, I'm Nate." Then it hit Mitchie that he didn't look like the dweeb she had first thought him to be. He actually wasn't too terrible to look at, with short, curly hair and fairly tanned skin, and pretty brown eyes that shined whenever he smiled.

Interesting. Now she was kind of curious to meet his brothers. Maybe they were as handsome as he was.

"Mitchie." She responded.

"Nice to meet you, Mitchie. Just thought I'd come up and say hi." He blushed slightly, obviously a little shy. Mitchie smirked.

"Whatever." He blushed again and avoided her gaze.

She wondered why he was being so shy. Unless that was just his usual attitude with new people. But then he glanced back up at her, just shy if his gaze landing on her chin. She glanced down and finally realized what his problem was. She was wearing nothing but a a tank top that was a little too small and a tight pair of jeans. She smirked. She knew she was hot, that was the main thing that had kept Brian around for so long. She was getting a crack out of watching the boy that was going to become her roommate try not to stare. But then she wondered if he was just staring at the bandage on her shoulder from the gunshot wound. Probably both.

"So," He cleared his throat. "You like the room?"

"It's alright." She didn't mention the part that any place was better than where she was from. He didn't need to know that.

He just nodded his head and was silent again. Mitchie stared him down, she didn't want him just standing there. He was nice, albeit a little shy and somewhat weird, but she didn't want him hovering. She hated that.

"Nate!" Came Paul's voice from downstairs. "Come feed your dog!"

Nate sighed and smiled slightly. "Um...my room's right across the hall, so if you need something feel free to ask."

Mitchie just crossed her arms across her chest. Nate took the hint and left, shutting the door behind him.

Mitchie sighed out in relief at the aspect of being alone again. She hated being around so many people when she was as clean and sober as she was. She wondered how hard it would be to get any alcohol or drugs around this place. There had to someone who had connections, and if anyone could find that person, it was Mitchie. She would just have to make sure that Denise or Paul could never find out. That would not work out in her favor, that was for sure. She'd be sent right back where she came from. Not that it mattered. She would find some way to get into trouble anyways, whether it had something to do with illegal drugs or not. She was really good when it came to finding trouble. But she had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy as it was in Baltimore. She'd figure something out. She always did.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed with exhaustion, she had slept like shit in the hospital, she laid down on the soft bed and was asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Three hours later, Mitchie shot up, gasping for air, coming out of that nightmare in a cold sweat. She pushed the visions of her dream out of her mind, forced them away, wanting them to never enter her brain again. Block them out. It was the only thing she could do to get past it. She gulped in the much needed air and distracted herself by looking out the window of her new bedroom. It was completely dark out by now. She glanced around the room until she found the digital clock sitting on the nightstand, telling her it was nearly seven-thirty at night. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing nerves and heart. The nightmares came regularly, which was why she was never one for naps unless she had been awake longer than she had thought and she was walking around like a zombie.

She used the back of her arm to wipe the sweat off her forehead before placing her head in her hands, trying to get herself back under control. She hated the nightmares. She would happily die just to get away from them.

Trying to get her mind off the dreams, she listened to see if any of the Gray's were moving around downstairs, and that's when she heard the voices she didn't recognize. Another woman's laughing, one that didn't belong to Denise, and then another male voice that wasn't Nate's or Paul's. One of the other Gray boys must have shown up.

She sure as hell wasn't going downstairs though, she was tired of meeting people. She so badly wanted a joint, but she wouldn't be able to find one stuck in that room. Would she be able to sneak out? She climbed off the bed and looked out the window, smirking when she saw a tree right outside her window. It wasn't that far of a jump, she could make it to the tree and climb the rest of the way down. But how to do that without getting caught, she had no idea. Yet. She'd figure it out. She'd have to wait until all the Gray's were asleep though. She was sure it wouldn't take them too long.

Another knock sounded on her door, and she sighed in exasperation. She was never gonna sneak out if they were checking up on her ever hour. "Yeah?" She called out, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

Denise popped her head in and gave her a smile.

"Shane and Jason just got here. Dinner will be ready soon, if you're hungry."

Mitchie felt her stomach twist in protest. She never had much of an appetite after waking up from the dream she just had.

"Um...actually, I'm not all that hungry."

Denise seemed concerned, but didn't argue.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, just come down. I'll save some for you just in case."

Mitchie just nodded, and sighed in relief once the door closed again. This was too weird. She wasn't used to people caring about whether she was fed or not. Her mom had never been one to keep food around, so Mitchie usually went hungry unless she felt like lifting something from the grocery store or some retail place that sold candy bars and snacks and shit. She never had that much money or anything. And she had only been busted for stealing a couple of times. No one ever really cared, people did it so much around that part of town that people stopped caring, the business owners who did care didn't have anything to worry about. Most everyone who stole just went to the places that didn't give a shit. If they were desperate maybe they'd go to the more enforced places, but there was hardly ever a need for that, and it was a real pain in the ass when the owners caught you and called the cops.

But now she wouldn't have to be worried about getting busted, there would be food waiting for her. It was still strange. Someone caring. Or at least trying to care. They didn't know her well enough to give too much of a damn.

But at the moment she wasn't hungry enough to be grateful. All she wanted was something that could loosen the knots in her stomach. She knew exactly what she wanted, but she had no idea on how the hell to get it. She needed to get out of that house. She felt like she was trapped. She couldn't stand this anymore. She needed to do something.

Desperate, she shoved her shoes on and forced the window open. She took a deep breath before climbing out and jumping the distance towards the tree. She grabbed on and released a breath, making sure that she was safe and wasn't about to get caught. The tree was in the Gray's backyard, but it was off the to the far side in the darkness, so Mitchie knew she was safe for the moment. And with that reassurance, she climbed down the rest of the way until her feet were safely on the ground.

It was easy enough to sneak out of the gate. She knew they would be in the dining room on the other side of the house that she had seen when she first stepped in. Now she was free, of course she would have to come back. She wasn't a complete bitch. She just needed to get away. It was all too much to her at the moment and she wanted a fucking release. And she would get one no matter what she had to do.

She didn't know where the hell she was going, but she just started walking. Maybe she would run into somebody. She didn't have her fake i.d. on her, she didn't want Denise finding it and tearing it up or something, but she might as well have seeing as either way she was stuck without it. Bars were probably the best places to go to find some of the stuff that she so desperately craved. Maybe she could sneak her way into one. She had to find one first. She was stuck in nothing but neighborhoods. She had sure to keep up with where she was going so she could find her way back, she was pretty good at finding her way around though, so she wasn't worrying too much, but still, she had to be careful. It was a new place and she didn't know how it worked, and she didn't want to start finding things out the hard way.

Her need for some sort of drug or alcohol was becoming unbearable, and she knew she had to find something or she was going to explode or something along those lines. It was driving her mad.

But then she stopped walking when she heard the sound of wave crashing, she turned and realized she had wandered off toward a beach and an endless body of water. She had never seen the Atlantic Ocean before. She had never gotten too far out of her side of Baltimore to ever try and find it.

She found herself crossing the street and making her way towards the beach so she could watch the waves crash right in front of her. It was nighttime, so obviously it was hard to make out much of anything, but she didn't care, she liked the sound of it. It was intense, and was almost mimicking exactly how she felt. Like she was being thrown around and on an endless wave of turmoil. It nearly made her want to cry, but she fought back the urge. Crying showed weakness. And that was the last thing she needed to do.

She didn't know how long she sat out there, but it felt like a short time later when she felt a presence come closer to her. She tensed up, poised to fight whoever chose to attack her.

"Mitchie, right?" A soft voice asked and her muscles relaxed. She glanced behind her to see who was behind her, but found that it was so dark she could barely make out much of him, especially because he was still standing a few feet away and she couldn't get a good look at his face.

"Yeah." She said, wondering how this person knew who she was. The only people who knew her were the Gray's, and that definitely wasn't Nate or Paul's voice.

"Glad I found you. My mom got worried when she went into your room and found you weren't there."

Mitchie scrunched her eyebrows together. So this guy had to be at the Gray's when she had snuck out. Could it be one of the other Gray boys?

"Yeah, so?"

"So? She sent us all out on a search party looking for you. She doesn't like to worry."

"Yeah, and you are?" She heard him let out a soft chuckle that sent a shiver straight down her spine. She ignored it.

"Sorry. I'm Shane. Probably should have started with that."

Mitchie nodded, but didn't say anything more. She didn't know what to think about Denise sending her family out to look for her. It was stupid that she cared so damn much.

"So, why'd you sneak out? Running away?" Shane asked as he sat down on the sand next to her.

"No," She snapped defensively. "I was gonna come back."

Shane chuckled again. "Ya know, typically when people leave the house and plan on coming back, they use the front door. It would have saved you a lot of trouble."

Mitchie scoffed. "Whatever. I wouldn't have been allowed to go out anyway."

"What makes you say that? That my parents would lock you up forever."

"No. Because of where I was going." She snapped.

"And you think you'd get in trouble for coming to the beach?"

"I wasn't going to the beach. I got distracted." She was quickly getting fed up with this guy. He was annoying as shit.

"Okay. So where were you going?"

"It's none of your fucking business!" She snapped, pushing herself up off the sand and stalking away from him.

She didn't count on him following her. "Hey, wait!" It didn't take him long to catch up with her, and when he did, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. On instinct, and everything she had been taught how to do growing up, she whipped around and shoved him back with all her strength. Shane fell to the sand with a thud and a grunt.

Mitchie scowled down at him, not feeling an ounce of guilt. If he didn't want that to happen, he should have just left her the hell alone.

But he caught her off guard when he let out a breathless chuckle and pushed himself back up to his feet. "Jesus, you're strong."

"Then I suggest you stay the hell away from before I beat the shit out of you."

He chuckled again. "Calm down, would ya? I'm not here to try and lock you up in prison. Look just come back to the house before my mom freaks out even more."

"I'll go back when I feel like it." She glared at him through the darkness. Her eyes finally took the time to adjust, and when they did she finally saw Shane Gray for the first time. He was tall, that much was obvious, and she must have been stronger than she thought for being able to shove him down as easily as she had. She noticed the twinkle in his eyes and realized he was more amused than anything, and that irritated her to no fucking end. He had short hair that was spiked slightly down the middle, and a small amount of stubble. And a small smile played on his lips.

Mitchie wasn't gonna lie, Shane Gray was fucking hot.

But her irritation caused her to not give a shit about his looks.

"Or, you could come back now and save my mom a panic attack."

"Why the fuck does she even care?" She snapped.

He paused. "Because that's who she is, and you're just gonna have to get used to it. She cares about you too, now."

Mitchie froze, not expecting him to say something like that.

"Now come on, I'll give you a ride back."

Mitchie was tired of arguing, so she finally resigned and followed Shane back to his car. Once back in the streetlight, she saw Shane more clearly, and he was even hotter than he looked in the dark. And she thought Brian had been hot. He had nothing on Shane.

When he gestured to his car she couldn't help but roll her eyes. A fucking Hummer. Of course.

She shook her head and climbed into the passenger seat and crossed her arms across her chest, subconciously hiding the scars on her wrists and up her arm. She wasn't sure how much the Gray's knew about her past, but she sure as hell wasn't going to go flaunting it. She didn't need people looking down on her.

"Seatbelt." Shane said as he climbed into the driver's side.

"Excuse me?"

Shane smirked. "Put your seatbelt on."

Mitchie narrowed her eyes at his handsome. "What are you, the fucking police?"

"No, but I'd hate to get pulled over by one. I have a spotless ticket record."

She scoffed and shook her head. "Shit, of course you do." But she tugged her seatbelt on anyways. Once he was satisfied that she was buckled up, he started the car and pulled back onto the road.

"How'd you know it was me?" She asked him after a moment. "How'd you know it was me that was sitting on the beach."

He chuckled lightly. "Not too many people around here have a bandage wrapped around their entire shoulder."

He had a point.

"Does it hurt?" He asked after another brief silence.

"Does what hurt?"

"Getting shot. How bad does it hurt?"

Mitchie scoffed. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Just curious."

She sighed. "Hurts pretty fucking bad."

He didn't say anything for another moment. "How'd it happen. Who shot you in the shoulder?"

"I dunno. Some rival gang."

His eyebrows shot up. "You were in a gang?"

"No." She told him. "But my boyfriend was. Is. Whatever. I guess I don't even know if he's alive or not."

"What happened?"

"Drive-by. They happened all the time, but you sure as hell didn't wanna get caught in the middle of one. Obviously, I've learned that the hard way."

"So you're shoulder got the worst of the damage?"

Mitchie scoffed and shook her head before turning to look at him to see if he was serious. He was. "Did your mom not tell you anything?"

"She told us you were shot, and from the bandage I just assumed it was your shoulder."

"I guess that's all you need to know then." She told him.

"You're not gonna tell me the rest?"

"Why should I?"

Shane just chuckled. "I guess you're right."

But she did want to tell him. She didn't know why, but she wanted to tell him everything. She couldn't thought, obviously that would be dangerous. And she would hate to scare such a hot guy away from before she could have any fun with him. Yeah, it was probably best to keep her past away from him and anyone else she encountered. It would just cause trouble.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! I have plenty of ideas for later on, so I really need some feedback!  
**


	3. Chapter 2

**This is crazy. I'm on a roll. I haven't written this much in forever. All thanks to some pretty fantastic reviews I got that seriously inspired me. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate your feedback, and how much it makes me want to write more. So, thanks so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**

**Chapter 2**

"Mitchie! Mitchie, wake up! Let's go do some shopping!" Mitchie groaned, at the aspect of being waken up when she felt like a fucking zombie, and at the aspect of shopping. When she and Shane had gotten home the previous night, she was immediately bombarded by a worried Denise. It freaked her out, because she had always gotten away with sneaking out, mainly because no one had ever given a shit, and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not at the moment. Now she would have to sneak out and have a guilty conscience about it. It's not like she wasn't going to stop. Even if the Gray's had set ground rules for her. Which, obviously, included no sneaking out. And they even stuck her with a fucking curfew. Mitchie and rules never mixed, and she wasn't going to start now. She still hadn't found a good place to get the stuff that she was craving. She hadn't wandered far enough the previous night to see if she could find a bar that she could sneak into or something. As far as back alleys went, there really weren't any, at least not ones well hidden enough to find the drugs she wanted. That was the problem with small towns, it was all tight knit and close together. If she wanted drugs, she'd probably have to wander out of it, and she didn't know if she wanted to go that far.

"Ugh. Shopping?" She questioned, her face pressed into the pillow, praying she had misheard Denise and she had said something, anything, other than the word shopping.

"Yeah! Shopping. Won't that be fun?" Fun? More like a fucking nightmare. It was never a good idea to take Mitchie shopping. Mainly because shopping was what she never did. Why in the hell would anyone use money on clothes? Especially when Mitchie had such an easy time taking them straight from the place. And Mitchie had only gotten caught a few times, she had become an expert at stealing. She had to use the small amount of money she had on food and whatever, and even then it wasn't much. She always had a hard time earning money. Sometimes she took money from her mom's wallet when she was too drunk or stoned to notice anything or remember how much money she had in the first place.

But shopping for fun? No. Fuck no. Not ever going to happen. "Fun would not be my word for it." She muttered, and Denise must have thought she was joking because she laughed. Mitchie just scowled and buried her head farther into her pillow, ready to fall back asleep and forget this little shopping conversation ever happened.

"Oh, come on, Mitchie, get up." Suddenly the covers were yanked off of her and she was exposed to the air around her. She groaned, wishing to be immersed once again in the comfort that the covers and bet brought, but Denise was resilient. It seemed that no matter what Mitchie said, or how much disinterest she showed, Denise wasn't going to give up on this shopping thing. "There are pancakes downstairs, and I suggest you get to them before the boys eat them all."

Pancakes? Ever since she had jacked some frozen, microwavable ones from the grocery store one time, it had been her favorite thing to eat.

Damn it, she thought bitterly to herself, and forced herself to sit up on the bed where she finally faced Denise who had a triumphant smirk on her face. Mitchie scowled in response.

"I'll let you get ready, if you're not downstairs in fifteen minutes, I'm coming back up." She warned as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Mitchie's scowl deepened as her eyes wandered towards the clock, which told her it was nine in the fucking morning. That was ridiculous, sometimes Mitchie was only going to sleep at this time and now she was waking up. Her body was going to go into shock, she was sure of it.

Cursing to herself, she climbed off the bed and staggered towards the adjoining bathroom that she had all to herself. Thank God. She was gonna become murderous if she had to share a bathroom with a fucking boy.

With a deep sigh, she tried to get herself together. This was so out of her loop and it was going to drive her crazy. She couldn't wrap her mind around how people were able to live like this. Happy. She had always wanted it. Who wouldn't? But she had just grown up completely different. Having to fend for herself no matter how many bad things she had to do to keep herself alive. Obviously she hadn't been doing too great of a job. There were several times when she woke up in the hospital having almost overdosed. She'd been shot more than anyone ever should, not to mention gotten knifed on several accounts. Most of her skin was nothing but scars. But that was how she had lived, it was how she grew up. She always wondered what would her life would be like if things were different, but she never lingered. It had always hurt to know that she had been stuck in her own living hell with no way out. Who knew the only way out would be to take three bullets from a rival gang?

She sighed and washed her face with water before she went back into her room and changed into another pair of jeans and a different shirt, grimacing when the movement irritated her still aching shoulder. She had already ditched the sling since the only thing it was doing was annoying the hell out of her. The doctor said that the bullet in her shoulder had wedged against a nerve, which was why it hurt so fucking bad. She couldn't wait for the day that she was able to use her shoulder correctly again, because this was fucking ridiculous.

Once she was presentable enough, not that she gave a shit, she wandered downstairs where the Gray family was already eating their breakfast. She saw all the boys gathered around the table, including Jason and his wife Danielle. She had met them for the first time last night. They were okay, Jason had this weird child like innocence about him. When he had first saw her the previous night, he had given her a huge, contagious smile and wrapped her in a bear hug, and he hadn't even minded her not hugging him back.

"Oh, good, there you are. I was about to come back up there." Denise said when she spotted Mitchie entering the kitchen. "I saved you a plate." She smiled and handed Mitchie the plate filled with two pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Mitchie stared at the empty seat that was left at the dining table, wary of surrounding herself with people she felt completely out of place with. But then Denise gave her a push and she knew that she would have no choice but to sit, so she did, cautiously at that. She still wasn't used to these people, and she wasn't sure she ever would be. But she was starving, so she had no problem digging into the plate of food that she had been given. It was sure as hell the best food she had ever eaten. The microwavable kind had nothing on the ones Denise made. Not that she would ever admit that out loud.

There was conversation around her, everyone talking about whatever the hell they wanted to talk about, and Mitchie was sort of relieved that no one was making an effort to talk to her. She could eat her food without worrying about answering any stupid questions aimed her way. But the one time she did look up from her plate she had managed to make eye contact with Shane, who smiled warmly at her. She didn't smile back, of course, but it was a nice gesture, and it made the muscles in her stomach relax. Why? She had no fucking idea, but whatever, at least she felt a little more comfortable.

It didn't take her long at all to finish her food, and she was sure that was the most food she had eaten at one time in her entire life. Sad, wasn't it? After everyone else was finished, she offered to clean up, and then collected all the dirty dishes.

Mitchie was just about to head back up to her room when Denise stopped her. "And Mitchie, as soon as I'm done here we'll head out towards the mall." She smiled. Mitchie forced back a scowl and continued up to her room.

She contemplated sneaking out, but what the fuck would be the point? Denise would probably send her family out on another search party and just drag her back and she would have to endure the hell that was shopping anyways. And besides, it was way too early, there would be nothing to do.

She wasn't in her room but a few minutes when there was a knock at her door. She inwardly groaned, thinking it was Denise and how that woman could was dishes fucking fast. Mitchie had barely had time to prepare herself for the upcoming torture.

But to her surprise, it was Shane that stuck his head in.

"Hey," He smiled. "Mind if I come in?"

Mitchie just shrugged, and Shane took it as an okay to enter. He shut the door behind him and took a seat on the edge of her bed. Mitchie held back a smirk, considering. But nah, it was too early in the day to try and seduce a guy who she lived with. She had plenty of time for that later. Instead she crossed her arms and stared him down, wondering what he had come up here for in the first place.

"Mom said something about taking you shopping," He smirked. "Just came up to warn you. My mom's a major shopaholic."

Mitchie narrowed her eyes and scowled, and Shane's smirk just broadened at this.

"Maybe she'll go easy on you, though, seeing as you're new and everything."

She gave him a cold glare. He was beginning to get on her nerves. "Are you trying to help, or trying to piss me off?"

"Little bit of both," He smirked. "Just thought you might wanna know what you're getting yourself into."

"I'm not getting myself into anything," She snapped. "I'm being forced into this."

"Why don't you just say no?" He asked, and it made Mitchie backtrack. Why didn't she just say no? Just refuse to go. There was no way in hell that Denise could force her to go shopping. But just at the thought of hurting Denise's feelings, she felt guilty. Denise had taken a Baltimore street kid who had done more drugs, gotten drunk, and had sex more than any seventeen year old girl should. And now she was offering to buy clothes for her, clothes she probably desperately needed seeing as she only had few outfits in all. But Shane sure as hell didn't need to know that.

"It's none of your fucking business." She snapped. "Why do you care so damn much anyways?" She narrowed her eyes at him again.

He was silent for a moment. "I was just wondering. You didn't seem like the shopping type to me."

"I'm not."

"That's what I thought. I figured someone like you would do anything to get out of shopping with someone like my mom."

She glared at him, hard. "What do you mean someone like me?" She demanded.

His eyes widened, and he backtracked, obviously not realizing what he had said. "I-I didn't mean it like that. I just meant-"

"You just meant what?" She snapped. "That some fucking troublemaker like me would just blow everyone off? That all I care about is myself?" As soon as the words left her mouth though, she knew it was exactly the thing that she would do. It always had been. In Baltimore she was always looking out for number one, mainly because there was no one else to look out for. She didn't have time to care about people, she was too busy making sure she didn't end up dead in the gutter.

But Shane looked guilt stricken. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it like that." She softened, though not much, when she heard the regret in his voice. She eased off the glare and settled on scowling at him.

"Just get out, Shane."

He nodded his head, understanding before standing and leaving the room.

The weird thing was, when he left, she wished he would come back and talk with her some more. Even if they were only arguing.

* * *

The mall was even worse than she had thought it would be. And not just the shopping aspect of it. There teenage girls, some who looked her age, and some thirteen year olds who were trying way too hard to be hot. And were failing miserably. They walked around in packs, giggling like idiots and holding on to several bags from several different clothing stores. Then there were guys who were checking out all the packs of girls, and when one tried to approach her, Mitchie gave him glare that immediately had him backing off.

Denise didn't seem to notice Mitchie's hatred towards the mall, or if she did she chose to ignore it. She had already bought Mitchie several different outfits and a few pair of shoes seeing as the ones she had on now were so beat up the soles were just about ready to fall out the bottom.

After about three hours of scouring through endless stores, they took a lunch break at the food court where Mitchie watched a bunch of nerdy guys embarrass themselves as they tried to talk to some girls who were decked out in cheerleading uniforms. Mitchie hated them already.

"So, I got you all signed up for school. You'll be starting Monday." Mitchie finally zoned back in to what Denise was saying, and once it registered, she dropped the french fry she was just about to place in her mouth.

"School?" She asked incredulously. Sure she went to school back in Baltimore. On certain days. When she felt like it, and when she didn't wake up at three in the afternoon. Granted when she woke up at what was considered to be a decent time, Brian had always talked her out of going and instead to go hang out with his gang. It wasn't a hard offer to refuse. So school was never part of her agenda.

"Yes, school. You're supposed to be a senior, aren't you?"

Mitchie was still stunned. "Um...I guess." She made it sound like she wasn't too sure of it herself. Of course, she wasn't sure how the hell she had made it all the way to grade twelve in the first place.

"School year started just a few months ago, so I'm sure with a little hard work you'll be able to catch up." Denise told her, not noticing that Mitchie was still in complete and utter shock at the aspect of going to school.

She cringed.

It was October. There was no way she was going to make it through the rest of the school year, especially if Denise was going to make her go everyday. And hard work? Yeah, right. No fucking way in hell was she gonna work hard to do well in school. Not going to happen.

"Do I have to go?" She asked, and Denise immediately nailed her with a look that had Mitchie cringing again. She took that as a yes.

"Look, Mitchie, I know things were different in your life back in Baltimore." Lady, you had no fucking idea, Mitchie thought with a scowl. "But you're just going to have to adjust to the rules here. The first one being that you graduate high school."

"What are the other rules?" That was probably the stupidest thing she could have ever asked.

"I'm not sure what all you got into back in Baltimore, and I'm sure I don't want to know, so I'm just gonna lay out the ground rules that will be enforced at all times." She said in a firm, don't-bullshit-with-me voice. "You already know the rules about no sneaking out and your curfew. Another rule is that you will not be using any drugs of any kind." Mitchie just about had an aneurysm. "No drinking, no smoking, and no hanging out in shady places. You will not be bringing any boys to the house without my or Paul's permission. Understood?"

Mitchie scowled. What the fuck did these people do for fun around here? She took away everything that Mitchie did back in Baltimore. What was she supposed to do now?

"And what if I break the rules?" Mitchie dared to ask. There was no way in hell she was going to agree to any of that shit.

"There will be consequences. Serious ones." Then her voice softened. "I'm not your mother, Mitchie. I am not that woman you left behind in Baltimore. I want to help you. I want you to go far in your life. You have so much potential, but you are not going to live up to it if you're doing drugs that can kill you. Do you understand?"

Mitchie's throat had closed up, so all she could do was nod her head. No one had ever said that to her before. That she had potential, it seemed like such a stupid thing to think. Mitchie never thought she had anything resembling potential, that she was doomed to be someone who died young because of a gang war, or some stupid street thing gone wrong. She never thought about having anything to live up to, about having a future. Of course, she would have rather died rather than to end up like her mom.

* * *

It was nearly four hours later when they finally got back to the Gray household, hauling a shitload of clothes and random things that Mitchie would probably never use. She passed Nate in the living room on the way towards the stairs with her ridiculous amount of shopping bags.

"Have fun shopping?" Nate asked with a grin. Mitchie only responded with an icy glare that had the youngest Gray boy laughing. "I figured. Need some help with that?" Considering she didn't want to haul all that crap up to her room by herself, she dropped some of the bags into Nate's lap before continuing up the stairs, now with Nate following behind her.

She dropped the bags onto her bed and merely scowled at them, and then glared at the one's Nate dropped next to them.

"I don't know what the fuck to do with all these clothes."

Nate just laughed. "Most people wear them."

"No shit, Sherlock." She glared. "I've just never had this much clothes in my entire life."

"Hey, look on the bright side, it'll save you from having to go on another shopping excursion for awhile."

He had a point. A very good point.

"Thank God." She breathed before collapsing into a chair that sat in the corner of the room, seeing as the space on her bed had been occupied. "How the hell do you stand it?"

Nate just laughed. "Usually she doesn't drag us into shopping with her, says we complain too much. But this might be a record for her. Then again, she's never had another girl around the house to go shopping with."

Mitchie felt a pang of guilt at that. But hey, she went shopping, there was no reason to feel fucking guilty, except she had hated every second of it. But she was there, wasn't she?

"So, she told me this morning about you starting school on Monday."

Mitchie's scowl returned. "Yeah, so?"

Nate jerked a shoulder. "Nothing. Should be interesting, I guess. At least you won't be alone."

"What's that supposed to mean."

Nate grinned. "I go to the same school. So at least you'll know one person."

She didn't know if that made it better or worse. "I guess there's that."

"I could introduce you to my friends. I kinda told them you were living here now, and they want to meet you."

Great, more people. "I don't think-"

Before she could finish, Denise was calling him downstairs. He rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll talk to you later then." He left, making Mitchie huff because she didn't get the chance to tell him that she didn't want to meet his friends. That she would rather be alone than suffer through the stares she would get from people who thought they were better than her just because they grew up in a better world. It wasn't fair. That these people in this town were lucky enough to have families who gave a shit. Who would do anything to make them happy and keep them safe. Mitchie never had that. She had always looked for that sense of comfort and safety that people were supposed to get from your mother. But Mitchie had been let down time and time again. She had always been deathly afraid of thunderstorms. Nothing should be that fucking loud and bright. But she had always had to endure through the pain herself because her mom was always passed out or not there. At one time she had Dylan. Her brother. He was always there for her. But then he left. Leaving her more heartbroken and alone than ever. Especially after what happened to Cameron.

Tears fought their way up her throat, but Mitchie forced them back. She couldn't show weakness. She had to get through it. Fight her way through all the tragedy that she had been through.

Before she could force all of the tears away, there was a knock on the door, shocking her enough that few tears dripped down her cheeks. Before she could wipe them away, Shane popped his head in and gave her that smile of his.

"Hey, dinner's almost rea-" He finally noticed the tear stains and he frowned before coming into the room and shutting the door behind him. "What's wrong?" He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, facing her direction while she still sat in the chair.

"Nothing's wrong." But her voice was choked up, and she was having a harder time keeping the tears at bay. In her haste to try and get herself together before she completely broke, she stood from the chair and distracted herself by grabbing the shopping bags off her bed and grabbing the clothes out of them before shoving them into her closet. It was a task that would distract her, but for only a few minutes.

But Shane wasn't going to let her get away with it. He jumped up from the bed and grabbed her arms, forcing her to stop throwing her clothes around, and instead forced her to look at him. When she finally slowed down, she realized that the tears were falling freely now and small sobs were trying to work their way up her throat.

"Mitchie, it's okay." Nothing was okay, but it was a nice thing to say.

"Shane, just go away." She tried to push him away but the grip he had on her arms only tightened. "Shane-"

"No," He said firmly. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"It's none of your business."

"Maybe not, but Mitchie, you can't be bottling things up. It's not healthy. You can talk to me, I promise. I know this is all different for you. I don't know much about where you came from, but considering last time you were there you got shot, so I assume it wasn't that great."

"You assume right."

"So talk to me."

"No."

"Mitchie-"

"Just don't, Shane. Don't. I don't have to tell you anything."

"You can trust us, Mitchie." Shane urged.

"One thing I learned growing up in Baltimore. You can't trust anybody. Because they usually end up screwing you over, or they end up dead."

Shane didn't say anything. Just looked at her with soft eyes that were burning into her own. Why did she want to trust him? Why did she want to just break down and tell him everything? She couldn't, obviously, but damn it, she wanted to. She also wanted to run her hands through his hair that looked so soft, and she wanted to kiss the lips that were now set in a deep, frowning pout.

"Shane? Where are you?" Mitchie heard someone call, someone unfamiliar. It wasn't Danielle or Denise's voice, Mitchie knew that for sure.

"Who's that?" She asked, looking back up at Shane who was now stepping away from her, releasing the grip his hands had on her arms, and looking a little bit guitly.

"That's Rachel. My girlfriend."

Mitchie frowned. Of course. Of course the bastard had a girlfriend.

Now she was all shaken up. She had practically broken down in front of the guy she was somewhat attracted to, albeit annoyed by, and now she figures out he has a fucking girlfriend.

Fuck my life, was all she could think.

* * *

**Well, there ya go. Three updates in three days. Keep all those great reviews coming and it might even be four. I hope anyways, I'm having so much fun writing this. **


	4. Chapter 3

**So, I got a review saying that I'm making Baltimore sound terrible, and I just want to take this AN and apologize PROFUSELY if I've offended you, I swear, I didn't mean for that to happen. When I'm talking Baltimore, I am not talking the whole city, I'm not from Baltimore, but I've been there though, and I love it. In this story I just wanted a big city that was somewhat close to New Jersey that wasn't in New York, and I'm so sorry if I made it sound terrible, the view in this story is not to be reflected on the actual city.

* * *

**

**Chapter 3**

Mitchie's first impression of Shane's girlfriend, Rachel, was that she was pretty. She had long, black hair, and bright green eyes and skin that said she spent just enough time in a tanning booth. She had followed Shane down the stairs, though she had no idea why when all she had wanted to do was sit in her room and brood. But she was curious about this girlfriend of his. She looked nice enough, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes when Shane greeted her with a kiss. She hated seeing public displays of affection, it was disgusting. So, she didn't look so bad, but Mitchie knew better than to judge someone by the way they looked, because as soon as Rachel's eyes landed on Mitchie, they hardened into a glare, resulting in Mitchie raising her eyebrows.

"Who is she?" She demanded, a harsh tone to her voice.

Whoa. Bitch, much?

"Oh, yeah. Rachel, this is Mitchie. Mitchie, this is my girlfriend Rachel."

The two girls didn't say anything. Instead, Rachel just glared, while Mitchie smirked at the response she was getting from Shane's girlfriend.

"What is she doing here?" She demanded, her glare only getting harder as she stared at Mitchie.

Mitchie chose to speak for herself. "I live here. What are you doing here?" She asked sarcastically, and had a sense of satisfaction at the look on Rachel's voice when the words 'live here' slipped from Mitchie's mouth. Obviously Shane had not told his girlfriend about the Gray's new houseguest, and Mitchie smirked, realizing how much fun she could have with this.

"Live here?" She turned on Shane. "She lives here? Who is she and why the hell does she live here?" Shane finally seemed to notice his girlfriends annoyance and he frowned at her.

"Rach, chill out. It's not that big of a deal." Mitchie held back a scoff, because obviously his girlfriend thought it was.

"You could have told me that there was another girl living in your house." She glared.

"Babe, she just moved in last night. Even we didn't have that much of a heads up."

Mitchie just rolled her eyes.

"Baby, I don't if I'm all that comfortable with you living in the house with another girl."

Mitchie snorted out a laugh and shook her head. She caught Rachel's glare with a smirk and walked by her. "Insecure, much?" She smirked as she walked by the couple before heading into the kitchen where Denise was preparing some sort of casserole.

"Hi, Mitchie," She greeted once she noticed Mitchie's presence. "Did you try on your new clothes? Did you like them?"

Mitchie held back a grimace. "Yeah, they're great. Thanks." She lied and poked her head in the fridge so she could pull out a water bottle, hoping that Denise didn't see through her lie. Though Mitchie highly doubted it, she had become a master at lying. Another tool for survival.

"Good," Denise beamed. "We should do that again sometime. I've always enjoyed shopping."

Oh God. Mitchie wasn't sure she could handle another marathon shopping spree again in her lifetime. No way in hell. But Denise didn't have to know that. There were a lot of things Denise didn't need to know. Instead of responding to her, Mitchie took a long sip of water, trying to avoid going into that topic yet again.

"Dinner'll be ready soon, if you're hungry."

She kind of was, but not that intense hunger that she was used to feeling. She had eaten two meals today. Two very decent ones. She didn't want to start getting spoiled, but she was liking getting to eat on a regular basis. And Denise's cooking sure didn't suck, and that was certainly a bonus.

"Hey, mom. Hiya, Mitch." She turned and saw Jason making his way into the kitchen with a smile on his face. Mitchie was beginning to think that he and Danielle made it a regular thing to come to his parents house for dinner.

Mitchie had taken an instant liking to Jason, which didn't happen for her often. Or ever, for that matter. He was immediately nice to her, offering her a bright smile and hugging her even though he really didn't know who the hell she was. He obviously didn't care, who was just a naturally friendly person, no matter who you were.

"Hi, Jason." She responded and had to fight back a smile when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug.

"What's for dinner, ma?" He asked, and released the pressure on her, but kept his arm draped over her shoulder, which Mitchie let him keep there. Anyone else and she would have shoved them away. But she had the feeling that she couldn't do that to Jason. She didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything.

"My famous casserole, and it's almost done, so go sit your butts down." She smiled and shooed them out of the kitchen. Jason just grinned and pulled Mitchie along with them towards the dining table where he finally removed his arm so he could let her sit down. He sat down in the chair next to her, leaving the other chair on his side open for his wife, who was there just a moment later.

Once word got around that dinner was almost ready, everyone piled into the kitchen. Nate took the seat opposite of Mitchie and offered her a friendly smile.

Shane and Rachel came in a moment later. Rachel had a composed look of indifference on her face when she passed Mitchie and sat as far away from her as possible. Mitchie just smirked. Shane took the seat between Rachel and Nate, leaving open the ends of the table for Paul and Denise.

Once dinner was served, conversation seemed to flow easily between them. Of course, Mitchie stayed out of it. She wanted no part of their everyday conversation. The Gray's obviously understood that, because they let her be. But Rachel obviously did not get the memo.

When there was a brief pause, Rachel glanced over at Mitchie, with that same look of indifference, except this time it had Mitchie holding back a glare at the girl.

"So, Mitchie, where are you from?"

Everyone silenced as soon as the question left Rachel's lips. She glanced at Jason, who was giving Rachel a look that was ignored by the girl. Mitchie liked how the Gray's hadn't put her on the spot, they would just let her jump in whenever she felt comfortable enough. They never put any pressure on her to fit in or say anything. They wanted her to ease into it at her own pace. It was obvious that Rachel didn't give a shit.

"Baltimore." Was all that Mitchie said before looking back down at her plate and continuing to eat. But Rachel wasn't done.

"Baltimore, huh? Did you like it there?"

"Rachel," Shane warned, shooting her with a look that was telling her to shut the hell up.

"What?" She asked innocently. "I was just curious."

"It's none of your business." Mitchie stated coldly. No way in hell was she gonna tell this girl anything about where she had come from. The only thing she would be saying to that girl was where the nearest hospital was after she punched her fucking face in.

"Well, since you live in the same house as my boyfriend, I think I have right to be curious."

Mitchie glared and her grip on her fork tightened considerably. Who the fuck did this girl think she was? "It's none of his business either." Was all Mitchie said.

"That's kind of rude, don't you think? Keeping your past from the family you live with now?"

"Rachel." Denise snapped, but it was ignored. Mitchie narrowed her eyes at the girl who was now smirking smugly. As if she had won some sort of fucking battle.

"Yeah, I'd hate for people to think that _I'm _rude." Mitchie sneered sarcastically. "Why don't you keep your nose out of my business before I break it?"

"Girls, that's enough." Paul warned.

Suddenly Mitchie wasn't feeling all that hungry anymore. "I'm done." She said and jumped up, skidding her chair back. She started to walk away but stopped when she passed Shane. "Your girlfriend's a bitch." She told him before stalking off towards the stairwell with a smirk. She wasn't going to let some insecure bitch get to her. She could beat the shit out of that girl, and she was almost mad at herself for not doing it. If she were back in Baltimore, that girl would be on her way to the fucking hospital by now.

If she didn't walk away from that table, Mitchie sure as hell would have beaten the shit out of her. She wasn't going to take crap from anybody, especially Shane Gray's stupid, jealous girlfriend.

After just minutes of locking herself away in her room, her cell phone began going off. She froze and stared at the object that was sitting on the dresser. Who could be calling her? The only people she knew in Jersey were downstairs.

Taking a deep, unsure breath, she grabbed her phone off the dresser and lifted it to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked, nervous as to what response she was going to get. Because she knew it had to be someone from back in Baltimore. No one else knew her number, unless of course it was a wrong number, which she just prayed that it was.

"Christ, Mitchie," She heard a familiar raspy voice breathe on the other end and her chest constricted when she realized who it was.

"Brian," Was all she could get out. She hadn't been sure what had happened to Brian after the shooting. Whether he had been shot or what, or if he was even still alive. Obviously, she had her answer now.

"Damn, babe, I thought you were dead. After the shooting you just disappeared. I saw you get shot, but Rob was pulling me out. I couldn't get to you. I thought for sure you were dead. Scared the living shit out of me." She could hear him take a deep breath. "Where the hell are you? Why you haven't you come to find me."

"I'm not in Baltimore, Bri." She told him slowly, wondering how he would take that news.

"What? Why the fuck not?" Not well, obviously.

"I couldn't stay there, Brian. Not after what happened last week."

"Babe, that was just a fluke."

"No it wasn't, Brian." She snapped. "I was lucky I didn't die. I can't risk that happening again."

"Mitch, I won't let that happen again. We were just caught off guard. Yo, those guys are gonna pay. I'm gonna fuck kick their asses for what they did to you." She knew his threat was real, and that's what scared her. He always followed through with what he said. "Babe, wherever the hell you are, just come back. I need my girl here."

Mitchie grimaced. "I can't, Bri. I'm sorry. I have to stay where I am. I can't go back."

The other line went silent for a couple of minutes. Mitchie almost thought that he just hung up on her. Then she heard him exhale deeply. "I love you, Mitch. I need you here." Mitchie flinched. It wasn't the first time he said that to her, but it was the first time he sounded like he actually meant it. She felt an ache in her heart that she had never felt before while talking to Brian.

"I'm sorry, Brian." Then she shut her phone and dropped it to the floor feeling a whole new round of tears build up in her throat. She had never cried this much in her entire life. She had no idea what the fuck was going on with her. She took a deep breath and managed to force the tears back into nonexistence.

It was ridiculous to miss Brian. There had been times when he had been really sweet to her, the times when he wasn't stoned or drugged up. Other times he could care less about her. There were more of those than anything. It always made her question if he really did care about her or not. Being on the phone with him she could tell that he wasn't drunk or on any kind of drugs at the moment. She could feel his words when he told her that he loved her. And for a second she believed it. Wanted to believe it. He was familiar. He was what she was used to. She didn't miss what her life was just a few days ago. She had always prayed to get out of it. And now she was. She knew she was too young to die, and that would have been inevitable if Denise hadn't saved her. But she couldn't lie to herself. She missed Brian. And that was stupid.

A knock on her door broke her from her thoughts. Before she could tell whoever it was to go the fuck away, Shane slipped into the room with a frown on his face.

"Hey," He said quietly, cautiously.

"What do you want?" She demanded, laying back down on her bed, trying to ignore him at all costs. He was absolutely the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. After her call with Brian, she didn't want to deal with anybody. He entered her room all the way, shutting the door behind him.

"I wanted to apologize. I know Rachel can be a bit much sometimes."

Mitchie scoffed. "Sometimes?"

"She just gets jealous easily, which is stupid. I'm sorry she treated you so bad. I told her to back off. I don't know if it'll help. She'll probably just avoid you."

"Tell her to please do that. I would fully appreciate it."

Shane sighed. "She can be really nice. It's just sometimes she gets..."

"Bitchy?" She finished for him.

Shane was about to say something to defend his girlfriend, but found that there was really no point. "Yeah. Pretty much. It won't happen again. I'll make sure of it."

"I don't care. I don't give a shit what she thinks about me."

"Then why did you run out of their so fast?"

Mitchie glared at him. "I know what you're thinking. She didn't hurt my feelings or any shit like that, Shane. I don't give a fuck what she says to me. I hauled ass because if I heard one more word out of her stupid mouth I was going to beat the living shit out of her."

"Okay, come on, I know she can be a bitch sometimes, but you don't have to say all this crap about her." Shane defended. Mitchie scoffed and shook her head before sitting up on the bed to face Shane.

"Why not? It's true and you not. Your girlfriend is a needy bitch who mocks anyone who is below her social status."

"You don't know her." Shane snapped, a fire rising in his eyes that Mitchie had yet to see from him. But she felt no guilt as she let the insults flow from her mouth. What she was saying was true, and he knew it. He was just being stubborn and trying to stick up for his girlfriend. It was pointless. Mitchie didn't give a shit either way.

"No, I don't know her. And I sure as hell don't want to."

Shane scoffed bitterly. "Yeah, and she's the bitch." He shot at her, making her raise her eyebrows.

"I think I have a right to be a bitch. In fact I rather enjoy it. I also enjoy bitch _slapping_ people. Which is exactly what I'm going to do if you don't get the hell out of my room." She snapped at him. She was tired of this.

Shane glared at her before stomping out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

She sighed and fell back onto her bed. She fucking hated this. She wasn't used to this fucking family thing. Shane was pissed at her for sticking up for herself to his bitch of a girlfriend. Though she had to admit she was kind of being a bitch too, but she didn't care. That's just how she was, and if Shane had a problem with that, then fuck him.

All Mitchie knew was that she needed to get out of that damn house. She was fucking tired of being straight when she so badly wanted something to relax her even if for just a few hours. She fucking needed it. She knew she had to wait until all the Gray's went to bed, there was no way she wanted them to come after her again. She would be blatantly disregarding their damn rules, but she didn't give a shit. She just didn't care anymore.

* * *

It was nearly five hours later that the Gray's finally went to bed and the house became quiet. After the dinner episode and Shane stomping out of her room, no one else bothered her. It became a waiting game of when she could finally sneak out and do what she so badly craved. When she was sure everyone was in bed, she pulled on a pair of shoes and a hoodie that Denise had bought her at the mall seeing as it would be fucking cold in Jersey in October. She didn't know where she would find anything, so she figured she didn't want to freeze to death while in the process of it.

When she had successfully gotten away from the house she began to run. She had no idea where, she just hoped it was in the right direction.

She didn't get distracted by the beach this time, in fact she downright ignored it. If she stopped and looked and she would never find what she was looking for. Of course she had no idea what she was looking for. Anything. Anything that could make everything just go away for a few hours.

Much to her surpise, it didn't take her long to find someone who could help her out. He was in a very well hidden alley behind a run down bar. He made her pay for what she wanted. But she didn't care, she had a little bit of money, and fortunately he took it giving her what she wanted in return. He told her not use it in that alley, but to find her own place. She didn't care where the hell she was, but it sure was a pain in the ass to have to find her own fucking place.

She was just glad that she could escape for a couple of hours.

Mitchie had no idea how the hell she had gotten into her bed. She must have stumbled her way back home. All she remembered was finding that dude behind the bar, and then taking what she wanted, and then she remembered her heart pounding so hard she thought it was going to explode right out of her chest. Damn, she must have used all of that stuff. At least her craving had been satiated.

Her head felt heavy as she lifted it up to check the time, and scoffed when she saw the luminescent number shining back at her. Nearly five in the afternoon. She grinned to herself and let her head plop back down on the pillow. But before she was able to shut her eyes and drift back to sleep, something on her window caught her attention. Scrunching her eyebrows together, she stumbled out of the bed to investigate.

What she saw made all the color drain from her face. Bars. They put fucking bars on her window. How the fuck did they even figure out she had decided to sneak out? She had been so careful! Damn it. Now she was fucking screwed.

Next thing she knew her door was being opened and Denise walked in with a firm look on her face. Mitchie scowled at her. "Why are there bars on my window?" She demanded.

Denise just raised an eyebrow. "I told you that there would be consequences for sneaking out. I have yet to figure out what to do with you for doing cocaine."

"What are you talking about?" There was no way she could have known. No way in hell.

"I am not stupid, Mitchie." She snapped, making Mitchie step back. Denise had never snapped at her before, and suddenly she was beginning to feel guilty. "You think you can just sneak back into this house at four-thirty in the morning, reeking of cocaine and think you can get away with it?" She demanded, and Mitchie gulped. "Don't you ever do drugs again and think you can just come back into this house. Next time I'll call the cops, and you'll really regret it."

Mitchie paled and felt sick. She hated the cops. Hated them with a passion. Last time she was busted with drugs she had been sent to juvie. And that was the last place she ever wanted to be again.

"You better get some sleep tonight, because tomorrow you're going to school no matter what condition you're in."

School. Yeah, this just got better and better. She was so fucked.

* * *

**This was a shorter one, sorry, but I felt it needed to end there. But, next chap, Mitchie goes to school! We'll see how she handles it.**

**Btw, I'm four for four. You see what your reviews do to me? Keep reviewing, I'll keep writing.**

**P.S. Happy New Year! Hope you guys had a great 2010 and I hope you have a great 2011!  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**So, I kinda had a suckish new years eve. Booo. So I spent all my time writing this while waiting till midnight, I'm still kinda bummed but some reviews will most definitely cheer me up. I can't write when I'm bummed, so I'm in desperate need of cheering up.

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

_"Mitchie, I have to go." He told her, rapidly moving around the apartment, throwing all the items he had into the bag._

_"Dylan, no!" Cried twelve year old, Mitchie. "You can't leave me! Not after everything that's happened." How could he do this to her? How could he just pack up and leave her after everything they had been through. How could he just abandon her?_

_"I have to, Mitch. I can't stay here." There was pain in his voice, as if it killed him to be leaving Mitchie behind. But what choice did he have? He was finally free to leave. Being eighteen meant that he could run and his mother could do nothing about it. But the pain he felt about leaving his little sister behind was excruciating. It was cruel to leave her behind, but it was the only way. _

_"Dylan, please! Don't leave me!" She sobbed, only making it harder for Dylan to do what he had to do. _

_"I'm sorry, Mitch. I'm sorry. I love you, but I have to go." He choked out. He had to stay strong._

_"Dylan." She whimpered, adding on to the cracks in his heart. _

_"I'll come back for you, Mitch. I promise."

* * *

_

Mitchie gasped as she was forced out of her dream. That night was replaying in her head over and over again no matter how much she wished it would never come back and haunt her again. The night Dylan left was the night that her life took a turn for the worst. He didn't keep his promise. He had left her there to rot with their mother. But now matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find it in herself to be mad at him. She couldn't blame him for wanting to get the hell out of that apartment and away from their mother. She did the same thing, except a year early, and she had people taking care of her now. Dylan had always been the one to take care of her. And she counted on him with everything she had, but he had let her down. He never came back for her. And she figured he never would. It was nearly five years ago now. He probably didn't care anymore.

She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and cursed when she saw the time. Seven in the morning. She knew what that meant. There was no way in hell was she going to get back to sleep. As soon as she tried Denise would come banging on her door telling her she had to go to school.

School. She cringed at the mere thought of the torture that she would be put through today. She wasn't ready for it. Especially because Denise was basically giving her the cold shoulder after what happened the previous day and getting busted for her drug use. Mitchie could easily see that she had disappointed Denise. But never had Mitchie felt so bad about disappointing somebody. She wasn't too fond of it either. Since when did she care what other people thought of her? She knew the answer to that. Since Denise gave her a chance that no one else ever would. Damn.

With a huff, Mitchie forced her body to get out of bed and move into the bathroom where she could maybe wake herself up with a shower. She wasn't used to waking up so early in the freaking mornings and she was definitely hating it with a passion. Especially when she was doing it just so she could get ready for school. That made it suck even worse. She just wanted to go back to sleep and stay there until her eyes wouldn't shut anymore.

After her shower she managed to dig out some of the new clothes that Denise had bought. She had sworn off anything that would attract too much attention to herself. A simple t-shirt and jeans were perfectly fine with her. She sure as hell didn't want to deal with anybody today. She had to draw a line somewhere. She'll go to school, but that didn't mean she had to be nice to any of the jerks that would be there.

She was nervous to actually go downstairs and have to face Denise. After their confrontation, not one word had been spoken between them. As a matter of fact, Mitchie hadn't spoken to any of the Gray's yesterday or since. She assumed Shane was still mad at her for insulting his stupid girlfriend. But that was his problem. She wasn't going to worry about what he thought or what his girlfriend thought. She just didn't care.

But she did care about what Denise thought of her. And she was sure she had made some pretty bad first impressions.

With a sigh, she finally stalked out of her room and down the stairs. As she entered the living room, she was hit with the smell of eggs and bacon. Biting her lip, she cautiously made her way into the kitchen where she saw Paul and Nate already digging into a plate and Denise over the stove scooping some more scrambled eggs into a bowl. Paul was the first one to spot her as she entered the kitchen.

"Morning, Mitchie." He greeted with a smile. How could he smile at her after what she did yesterday? There was no way in hell he would forgive her that easily. She was prepared for stony silence from all of them, assuming Denise had filled the boys in on what had happened as well. But Nate looked up and smiled at her as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

Denise turned around and handed her a plate, and much to Mitchie's surprise, she was smiling as well. Jesus, what was wrong with these people? Weren't they supposed to be mad at her or something? It's what she had been preparing herself for. She wasn't prepared for this, that was for sure. It caught her off guard.

"I must say, Mitchie," Denise began as she gestured for Mitchie to sit down at the kitchen table. "I'm surprised you got yourself up. I was preparing to drag you out of bed with the jaws of life." She chuckled. Mitchie chose not to be insulted, because she was surprised it had turned out this way herself.

"Ready for school, Mitch?" Nate asked, glancing up from his plate to aim his smile at her.

"I guess." Was her response. She probably shouldn't rock the boat by saying that school was the last thing she was ready for.

"It'll be great, Mitch." Nate reassured, but she had a hard time believing him. He had no idea how much she was dreading this. He had no idea how much she didn't want to be the messed up new kid who comes from nothing but drugs and alcohol. Not that anyone knew that. Yet. It would have to stay that way, meaning she would just have to keep her mouth shut about everything. That shouldn't be a problem. It never has been. She was good at keeping her shit to herself.

"Nate will be your ride, seeing as I assume you don't have your drivers license?"

"No." She said. She never needed one, Brian had taught her how to hotwire cars and how to drive them. She had never been busted once. But that probably wasn't going to come in handy around her. Cops were probably tight about that shit. It wouldn't look good if she was hijacking cars left and right.

"I figured. We'll have to do something about that too at some point. But for now, if you need to go anywhere, you can ask one of us or Nate." Where would she have to go? She chose to keep that question to herself.

"We got you some backpacks and everything you'll need for school. I'm sure your teachers will give you all the books you need." Denise continued, but Mitchie was just trying not to zone out on her. She really didn't care. She just wanted to get this day over with.

By the time she was done with breakfast, it was time to go to school. Mitchie sighed, hating this more and more. She grabbed the backpack that Denise had set out for her, which already had enough pencils and notebooks in it for her. At least she wouldn't have to buy her own shit. That was a plus. But now she would have to haul around this stupid thing all day. Unless she got a locker. But that would just suck to because she would have to go back and forth all day from there to her classes. Stupid.

Mitchie left the house and followed Nate out to his car. She was surprised to find that he had one of those old school Mustangs. At least he had good taste in cars. She climbed in shotgun after shoving her bag in the backseat and waited for Nate to start the car.

"We'll probably get there a little early, which is probably for the best so I can show you around a little bit. It's kind of a big school, so it's easy to get lost. It's the only high school in the area, so that's where everyone goes. It can get pretty crowded."

Oh, great. All the more people to irritate her.

"I don't need you to babysit me." She muttered, but he merely grinned.

"Trust me, it'll make it easier." She chose not to respond to that, because how the hell would he know? "So, where were you yesterday? You didn't come out like, at all."

Mitchie froze up. So Denise hadn't told him about what she did. Maybe it was for the better. She didn't need the entire family hating her for it. "Um...just wanted to be alone, I guess."

Much to her relief, Nate accepted that and didn't push her about it anymore.

It only took about ten minutes to get to the school, which wasn't nearly enough time for Mitchie. She still wasn't sure she was ready for this. She wanted to go back. She hated school. More than anything, and there were much better uses of her time than sitting around in some boring ass classes.

They obviously were early, because there were hardly any cars in the parking lot, which seemed to please Nate, because now he got a spot up close. She rolled her eyes and got out of the car, making sure she yanked her backpack out of the car and over her shoulder. She glared at the school. It was bigger than she thought it would be. It looked like a fucking prison that was just waiting to trap her and torture her for eight hours everyday.

Nate seemed to notice her expression and he tried to give her a sympathetic smile. "Come on, it won't be so bad. I promise."

She didn't believe him, but she followed him anyways. They had made it nearly halfway to the front door when someone called Nate's name.

Mitchie inwardly groaned. So it begins.

"Nate, hey." A girl their age greet him with a smile. Mitchie only glanced at her for a moment, but from that brief glance she looked friendly enough. She was pretty too. Had wavy, light brown hair and brown eyes. Mitchie did notice the way Nate lit up when he saw her.

"Caitlyn, what are you doing here so early?" He smiled and Mitchie finally turned to face both of them.

"I could ask you the same thing." She responded, looking up at him and not even noticing Mitchie.

"I came here to show Mitchie around a little bit." He said, finally gesturing to her. Caitlyn finally glanced at her, and smiled.

"Oh, so you're Mitchie! Nate told us about you." She glared at Nate, who was blushing slightly.

"Um, Caitlyn, this is Mitchie. And Mitchie, this is my best friend Caitlyn. I've known her since we were kids."

Best friends? Yeah, right. No way in hell they were just best friends. Even Mitchie could see that they totally liked each other. Whatever. Not her business, nor did she care to make it her business.

"It's nice to meet you." She said, and it sounded like she meant it, but Mitchie could never be too sure.

"Yeah." Was all she said in response before glaring up at Nate, mentally telling him to get a move on it. She was starting to freeze to death in the cold October air. Thankfully the dude finally seemed to get the hint and he smiled regretfully at Caitlyn.

"I guess I better help Mitchie get her schedule. I'll catch up with you at lunch." He told her, and Caitlyn just smiled at him before turning to look at Mitchie.

"Nice meeting you, Mitchie. I guess I'll see you around."

Mitchie just nodded at her before turning and walking towards the school once again, this time with Nate following behind her. When they were out of earshot from Caitlyn who had turned and walked the other way, Mitchie glanced at Nate. "So what's the deal with you and her?"

Immediately Nate began to sputter and turn bright red. "What-What do you mean?"

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Nate. Do I look blind to you?"

His blush deepened. "No."

"So, what's the deal? You like her, right?" She shot him a look saying that it was impossible to lie to her about that seeing as he had already made it so obviously. He sighed in defeat, before looking around and making sure no one else could hear him.

"Yes, I've liked her for years, okay?"

Mitchie just snorted out a laugh. "So why the hell haven't you told her?"

"Are you crazy? I can't tell her, it would ruin everything. I can't risk not being friends with her anymore."

"So, you'd rather be friends with her than her be your girlfriend?"

"No, of course I'd love for her to be my girlfriend. But I'd rather be her friend than nothing at all."

"Why don't you just go for the prize?"

He rolled his eyes. "I told you, I don't wanna risk it. Now here's the office, we'll just get your schedule at the front desk."

"Whatever, wuss." She smirked when he glared at her. She walked into the office and went up to the secretary, rattled off her name and finally got her schedule. She looked it over and decided that it could be worse. Nate looked at it over her shoulder.

"Oh, cool, you got Physics with me. And English with Caitlyn."

Mitchie shot him a look. "You know her schedule?" The blush immediately returned to Nate's cheeks, making Mitchie burst out laughing. "Stalker, much?"

"I'm not a stalker, I'm just her best friend."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." He rolled his eyes. "So do we have the same lunch?"

"Yeah, seniors all get lunch at the same time. So do the other classes." Mitchie just nodded.

He had showed her the essential places that she would need to go. Cafeteria, gym, the library and most of her classes. But then before long students started crowding the hallways. Most of them noticing that there was a new girl, and making Mitchie feel very self conscience, which was stupid, she thought. She could probably beat the shit out of most of the people here. Pretty soon, the warning bell rang. Nate walked her to her first class, and then told her that he would see her third period when they had physics together.

Mitchie took a deep breath and walked into her math class, the first class of the day. Damn. Not a good way to start a day. She sat down at a desk that as far back as she could go, hoping to just blend in with her surroundings and get through this day as quickly as possible. While slouched in her seat, waiting for the stupid class to start, Mitchie noticed a group of cheerleaders walk in, and Mitchie almost immediately recognized them from the mall on Saturday. They were the first people on her hate list. She immediately noticed who the queen bee was. Blond hair, blue eyes, skinny as a fucking pole. And all the other cheerleaders sort of gravitated around her. So pathetic, Mitchie thought to herself. She was too busy glaring at the cheerleaders that she didn't even notice when some dude came and sat in the seat next to her.

"Hey," He said, which finally got her attention. She turned to glare at him and noticed that he was just some stupid jock. He had a varsity jacket on, and a cocky grin plastered on his face. He could have passed for hot, but he had nothing on Shane. And he was just a stupid musclehead who was just trying to hit on her. "You new here?"

Mitchie narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe." Was all she said. He didn't seem at all affected by the sneer that she was pointing in his direction. What made some guys think they could have any girl they wanted?

"Cool. I'm Jordan." He said, his grin turning into a stupid smirk. Mitchie rolled her eyes.

"Good for you." He seemed a little put out by her lack of interest.

"So, uh, what's your name?" Mitchie glared.

"It's get the hell away from me before I beat your face in." That backed him off.

"Jordan! What are you doing? We are sitting up here." Mitchie glanced towards the front where queen bee had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Jordan.

"I was just getting to know new girl, here." He responded, unaffected by queen bee.

"Well, get the hell up here, you're supposed to sit with us."

"Alright, alright. Chill out, Tess." He said with a roll of his eyes before finally getting up and going to the front. As soon as he did as he was told, Tess glanced back at Mitchie and glared. Which Mitchie happily returned. Looks like her hate was reciprocated. This should be interesting.

Finally the teacher got there, and the bell rang. And so began the longest day of Mitchie's life.

* * *

Most of her classes passed without too much drama. Some people were brave enough to go up and say hi to her, but they didn't get very much out of Mitchie. She had met up with Nate in third period Physics to find him saving a seat for her next to him, which was nice because now she wouldn't have to worry about anyone else trying to talk to her. She could talk to Nate well enough. They had lunch after that, so Nate walked her to the cafeteria, which he bought her food and everything, saying that his mom gave them lunch money for both of them.

Looks like Denise still didn't trust Mitchie with money yet. It was probably a wise decision in the long run, Mitchie had to admit.

After getting their food, Nate led Mitchie to the table where a group of people were already sitting and chatting. Mitchie recognized Caitlyn among them. Nate introduced them, but Mitchie zoned out for it. They didn't seem so bad, but she still didn't like being in such a large group of people when she so much preferred to be alone. She was in the middle of eating one of the greasy fries when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She froze. What if it was Brian again? With her heart in her throat, she pulled the device from her pocket. But her throat opened up once again when she saw that she had a text from a number she didn't recognize.

_'I know you're at school, but I was hoping we could talk when you got home. I feel really bad about the other night. - Shane.'_

Mitchie gulped quietly after reading it. How did Shane get her number? Not bothering to respond, she slipped her phone back into her pocket and resumed eating her lunch. Why did he feel bad about it? He had just been defending his girlfriend. If anyone should feel bad about it, it should be Mitchie. Though she _didn't_ feel bad about it, but still, if anyone _had_ to.

Whatever. She'd figure it out when she got home. No use worrying about it now. Though she couldn't help but feel anxious at the aspect of seeing Shane tonight. She shouldn't, he was gonna be there every night for awhile. But still, she looked forward to it, and she probably shouldn't, but what the hell. Why not?

At least she was going to get to talk to him, maybe clear the air between them. She figured she'd need to get on the Gray's good sides. It would be pointless and dangerous for them to hate her. Might as well make nice. And might as well take the time to get to know Shane a little bit.

School couldn't have ended soon enough. She was ready to haul ass out of there as soon as the bell rang, but of course she had to wait for Nate outside the library like he told her to so they wouldn't be going all around the school looking for each other. Thankfully he showed up just a few minutes after he did, smiling.

"Ready to go?"

"You have no idea." He laughed and they began walking out of the building. But before they could, something collided with Mitchie's still aching shoulder. "Ah, shit." She cursed, prepared to beat the shit out of whoever just bumped her.

"Watch where you're going, new girl." Oh, hell no. She did not just say that to her. Mitchie glared at queen bee, Tess, she remembered that being her name, and was fully prepared to make the bitch feel her wrath, but before she could, Nate was pulling her away and out the school.

"What the fuck, Nate? I was ready to beat the shit out of her."

"Exactly. You think I was going to let you do that?"

Mitchie sneered at him. "Who the hell is that, anyways?"

Nate sighed, grateful that she wasn't going to turn on him for pulling her away. "Tess Tyler. Head cheerleader. Major bitch, as you've already seen."

Major is an understatement, Mitchie scowled. "And what the hell is her problem?"

"She hates everybody who's below her social status. Thinks she's better than everybody else."

Of course. Wasn't that always the fucking case?

"Whatever. I'm sure I'll have plenty of chances to kick her ass." She muttered and winced as her shoulder ached yet again.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, sensing her discomfort.

"Fine." Was all she said before stalking off towards his car, so glad to be getting out of that place. But Mitchie knew that wouldn't be the last time she would encounter Tess Tyler.

* * *

**There ya go. And don't forget to review, they make me happy. **

**Btw I'm five for five.  
**


	6. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the great reviews. My new years day was better than my new years eve on account of my favorite college football teams winning their bowl games. lol I hope you like this chapter. Don't forget to review after.

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

Shane wasn't there when Mitchie and Nate got home, but unfortunately for Mitchie, Denise was. And she was immediately attacked with questions about how her first day of school went. Ones that Mitchie didn't answer. In fact, she was pretty sure she never wanted to talk about school. Ever. She just had to pray that she made it to graduation without going crazy or possibly killing somebody. Either one was a definite possibility.

In a desperate attempt to stop Denise's probing questions, Mitchie tried to force her way out of the conversation and find some way to get up to her room. "It went fine. I had no problems. I have homework." And with that she dashed upstairs so she could be alone and in somewhat of a peace. She did have homework. Which was probably not going to get done, but you could only get her to do so much at once. She went to school. No one said she had to do well. She shut the door behind her, and prayed that one day she'd be able to get a lock and keep people out when she desperately wanted to be alone. She dropped her backpack on the floor and collapsed onto her bed with a deep sigh.

How did her life change so drastically? She had to admit, it was much better suffering through school rather than having to worry about if she was going to run into a rival gang and have her life be put at risk. Though the people at that school annoyed the hell out of her, she would probably never get away from that no matter where she was.

Shifting her thoughts from the things that annoyed her, to someone that annoyed her. She wondered when Shane would get home, and what he would talk to her about when he did. He said he felt bad, which was stupid, and she planned on telling him that when they talked. It wasn't his fault his girlfriend was a fucking bitch. But it was his fault that he was dating the chick in the first place. If he knew she was such a jerk, why the hell did he keep dating her? It was common sense to Mitchie. But of course she had no room to talk. Brian had treated her like crap most of the time, and yet she still stuck around him. She stuck around for all the times he treated her right, and was sweet and kind to her. It didn't happen often, ever, and she always took advantage of the moments it did. Maybe that was what Shane was doing. No matter how much someone could be a jerk, you still loved them because of those moments where they showed you their real side. But Mitchie also knew that you needed to be with someone that made you happy all the time. Not just in rare moments. That was why she needed to cut Brian out of her life for good. No matter how hard it seemed. She wasn't sure if she loved him, but if she did, she needed to stop. She couldn't be with him anymore. It was always really dangerous to be around him anyways, considering he was almost always with his gang.

A quiet, hesitant, knock on the door broke her from her thoughts. She looked up from her bed and saw Shane enter, looking nervous and shy.

"Hi." Was all he said while he lingered in the doorway. "Can I come in?"

Mitchie nodded and he entered, quietly shutting the door behind him. He stood for a moment, unsure, before moving over to her bed and sitting down next to her. "Um...listen...I wanted to apologize for the other night. I feel really bad about it."

She rolled her eyes. She knew that was coming. "Why? What reason do you have to feel bad about that?"

He huffed, not meeting her eyes. "I shouldn't have snapped at you or argued with you."

"You were just defending your girlfriend." She muttered, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice.

He scoffed. "Not that she deserved it. She really was a bitch to you, and I don't blame you for reacting like you did. She really knows how to push someones buttons and get under their skin. I don't know why she does it. For kicks, I guess. She can be so mean to people. But she really does have her moments sometimes."

Which was exactly what Mitchie figured. "Sometimes can't always cut it." She told him. "Trust me. If they have a moment every once in awhile, what's the point? Why not be with someone who can make you as happy all the time?"

Shane frowned in thought. "I guess I never thought of that." He sighed. "Sounds like you've been through it before." He chuckled and then paused when she didn't say anything. "You have...haven't you?"

Mitchie hesitated before nodding her head slowly. "Yeah, back in Baltimore I had a boyfriend."

Shane waited for a moment. "Oh, right. The one in the gang." He remembered from their conversation in his car after she had run away. She was surprised he remembered at all.

"Yeah. That one."

"What was that like? Having a boyfriend that's in a gang?"

She shrugged. "It had it's moments. I had constant protection from other gangs. Not that it always helped, but it kept some of them away from me." She paused. "He spent all his time with them, he'd usually drag me along too, even when I wanted to just be alone with him. And most of the time he was drugged up on something, and when that happened all he wanted was sex or more drugs. But when he was straight, he would sometimes sneak into the apartment and stay with me. Those were all the best moments. When he was clean, and it was just the two of us. They didn't last long, but they were there and I always looked forward to them even though they hardly ever happened."

She stopped then, finding it strangely hard to continue. She had never opened up about Brian to anyone, and she didn't know why she was starting now. Especially to Shane. She wasn't sure if she could trust him, and it was probably a bad idea to be putting things out on the line so soon. She had only been there for a few days. But it felt good to open up. To talk about what had happened to her. No one had asked her, not that she would have told them anyways. Everyone knew that she needed to open up on her own time. She just didn't think it would have happened this soon, or at all.

"Do you love him?" Shane asked quietly, cautiously, as if the question would set Mitchie off. Or like he was afraid of the answer. But the question only caught her off guard. _Did_ she love him? It was hard to say. Of course, she figured if she had to think about, she probably wasn't.

"I don't know." Was all she said. "I guess not." She paused and waited another moment. "Do you love Rachel?"

He hesitated. "I don't know. I've said it. I guess it's bad that I'm not sure if I mean it." He told her.

"This conversation is really starting to depress me." Mitchie mumbled, and had the satisfaction of hearing Shane laugh a little.

"Yeah, me too. Do you mind if I ask you something though?"

Mitchie glanced at him, wondering what he could possibly have to ask her, of course he probably had a million questions or curiosities, but which one was he going to voice? "I guess."

"What happened between you and my mom yesterday?"

Mitchie immediately tensed. "What makes you think something happened?"

He sighed. "Come on, Mitch. You totally stayed holed up in your room, and my dad put bars up on your window, and my mom just totally wasn't herself. She seemed bummed or something. Did you sneak out again?"

Should she tell him? It was probably a bad idea. But she couldn't lie to him. Not while he was looking at her the way he was. Like he needed an answer. Like he needed to know that she was okay.

"Yeah, I snuck out again." She told him. "And I did something I probably shouldn't have." She said quietly.

"What, like drugs?" Shane chuckled, obviously thinking that she wouldn't sink so low to do something as dangerous and stupid as drugs. But when all he got from her was silence, he frowned. "You did, didn't you?" He accused, appalled when all she did was look away from him. "How could you do something like that?"

She scoffed. "It's not exactly new to me, Shane. I knew what I was getting myself into."

"Then why the hell did you do it?" He demanded. "Do you know what that stuff can do to you? You could overdose, you could really do damage to your body!"

"Yeah, I know!" She snapped. "God, it's not that big of a deal." She muttered.

"Yes, it is! It's a huge deal. You could get addicted to that, and then you're really screwed." He huffed, and she could tell that he was angry. She didn't blame him. "Promise me you'll never do it again." He said, and Mitchie looked at him incredulously. She scoffed when she saw that he was actually serious.

"I don't have to promise you anything."

"Mitchie, please. You're seventeen. You're too young to do this to yourself. My mom brought you here to keep you alive, but there's only so much she can do, especially when you seem so unwilling to stay alive."

Mitchie was taken back. "What do you mean?"

Shane frowned and glanced down to her arms where he picked one of them up and then flipped it to show the scars on her wrist. Mitchie's heart dropped. She was hoping no one would notice. That no one would get close enough to be able to tell. How did Shane see them?

"You cut yourself." He pointed out.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself." She told him. "And it's been over a year since I've cut." Why did she tell him that? Why couldn't she just keep her fucking mouth shut. She was exposing too much.

He sighed and ran his free hand over the scars on her wrist, examining each and every one of them with his fingers. "You did it a lot." He muttered, noticing just how many scars there were.

"I had too much time to myself. I had to focus the pain somewhere else."

"As opposed to?"

She didn't say anything, not wanting to get into that, and Shane didn't push her. Instead, she felt his hand move farther up her arm, toward her shoulder and then to her neck before he got to her jaw line and cheek where it finally settled. His touch was so warm and comforting that she couldn't help but lean into it, her eyes fluttering as she tried to control her thoughts and what she was doing. Had to remember that he had a girlfriend. That she had Brian. Sort of. But she could only imagine that Brian wouldn't be too pleased if he saw how close she was to Shane at the moment. But she pushed that to the back of her mind. She didn't want to think about that. She wanted to think about Shane.

"Wasn't there something that you wanted to live for?"

Mitchie looked into his eye, trying her hardest not to get lost in them, before shaking her head. "No." She told him, honestly. She saw the pain and sympathy flash in his eyes.

"Mitch..." He breathed, trailing off as his hand slid back to stroke through her hair and he leaned in closer so he could rest his forehead against hers.

She had no idea what he was doing, or what he wanted to do, but whatever it was she wasn't going to stop him. She didn't think she could even if she wanted to. With a shaky breath, she finally lifted her hand to rest against his cheek, feeling the stubble and warmth against her fingertips, she tried to pull his face closer, and he was obliging.

She was getting lost in him. Getting the lost in her want to feel his lips on her, to feel his hands touching her. It was the most intense craving she had ever felt, and she needed it more than any kind of drug.

"Mitchie?" The voice came through the door followed by a knock, and it had Mitchie gasping and springing apart from Shane as far as she could possibly go. They were no where near each other when Denise opened the door. "Oh, Shane. I didn't know you were in here." She eyed her son for a moment before shaking her head. "Do you mind? I need to talk to Mitchie for a moment."

Without a word, Shane immediately shot up and darted out of the room without glancing back. Mitchie gulped.

Denise closed the door before moving into Mitchie's room and sitting in the spot that Shane just abandoned. "I've been thinking of what your punishment should be for your drug use the other night." She jumped straight to the point and Mitchie felt her heart sink. "But then, I realized I didn't know how to punish you. Most punishments involved confining someone to their rooms, but you seem to like it up here well enough. You make a habit out of being alone, so I can't stop you from socializing. I don't think anything I can do will have an effect on you."

Mitchie didn't say anything, unsure of where this was headed.

"Mitchie, I want to help you. But I can't do that if you don't want to be helped." She sighed, wringing her fingers together as she looked at Mitchie. "I knew you've had a tough life, and I know that I couldn't even begin to understand the things that you have gone through. But Mitchie, where you are now, it's not like where you used to be. You can trust us, and I know that it's not going to be an easy thing to do. But I promise, that we'll always be there if you need anything. I don't want to lock you up, or make you feel trapped. I want you to be happy and healthy. I want you to be part of this family."

Mitchie looked down, feeling ashamed and disgusted with herself. It wasn't a feeling she liked, but she had let down someone who has done nothing but try and help her and be good to her. Denise gave her a good place to live and food to eat, and Mitchie took advantage of it.

"I won't do it again." And she meant it to, if she had to go through this everytime, it just would not be worth it. And she didn't have anymore money anyways, so it's not exactly like she could.

"I hope not. Because I'll know. Good mothers notice everything." Denise gave Mitchie warm smile before leaving.

After the door closed, Mitchie sighed and passed out on her bed. It had been a weird ass day and she was ready to go to sleep. But then remembered that when she woke up she'd have to do that school thing all over again. And that it was only five in the afternoon.

Shit, was her only thought.

* * *

All during the school day, Mitchie actually tried to pay attention. To try and keep her thoughts from traveling towards Shane, but she couldn't do it. Mainly because the classes were fucking mind numbing and Mitchie was always actually zoning out no matter how hard she tried. After what happened between her and Shane, or what almost happened, he hadn't said a word to her, or even looked at her. At dinner the previous night, he had done nothing but pick at his food and avoid eye contact with everybody, especially Mitchie. She figured it was because he felt guilty for nearly cheating on his girlfriend. She couldn't blame him for that, but damn it, he could at least talk to her. So they had gotten caught up in the moment, big fucking deal. Move on it with it, man.

By the time she got home, she had worked herself up to being irritated at him. It was his own damn fault. He had started the whole touching and leaning in thing in the first place. Why the fuck did he get to avoid her?

Just minutes after she slammed the door to her room, practically muttering to herself, Shane swung the door open and grinned at her, making all her irritation dissipated immediately. Damn him.

"Hey, you wanna go get some coffee or something?" How the fuck was she supposed to say no when he was smiling at her like that?

"I guess."

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in a booth at Starbucks, Shane sipping on some fancy coffee shit while Mitchie stuck with hot chocolate. Coffee made her antsy as shit and she couldn't stand it. And she was pretty fucking in love with the hot chocolate.

"So, how was school?" Mitchie scoffed. What a stupid question.

"It was school."

"That good, huh?" Shane grinned, making Mitchie roll her eyes and take another sip from her hot chocolate. "It pretty much sucked when I went to school there too."

"Where do you go now?"

"I take some classes at NYU. Since I'm only part time I can't qualify for a dorm, and it's too expensive to rent an apartment in the city. Which is why I bunk with my parents." He paused and glanced at her hot chocolate. "Sure you don't want any coffee?"

Mitchie scoffed. "Shit, if I have any caffeine in me I'll be awake for a week. And that would be annoying as hell with the bars on my windows."

Shane just chuckled. "I can imagine. Ya know, you can always sneak out from my room." He offered with a smirk.

"Yeah, you would just love to get me in your room wouldn't ya?" She grinned and playfully kicked him. He laughed and shook his head. "In your dreams, Gray." She laughed.

"I wouldn't want you in my room. The bed in your room is a lot more comfortable." Mitchie busted out laughing, surprised that they were even able to say things like this after what had nearly happened between them. She thought Shane would be avoiding it like the plague. That's how it seemed at first. But she was glad that they were at this point. That they could laugh and joke like this. It was surprisingly easy. Conversation had never come easily when Mitchie was talking to somebody. Not as easy as this anyways. She never realized how funny he was, and charming. He was so much fun to be around. And that wasn't good considering that meant she would want to be around him more. She was pretty sure his girlfriend wouldn't care for that too much.

"So, where's your girlfriend at?"

His smile diminished slightly, and for a moment she regretted bring it up. "I dunno, out with her friends I guess. She's always having some stupid shopping spree. Her dad's loaded, so she's always out spending money on something."

Mitchie scoffed. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Rich and bitchy. Perfect fit."

He surprised her by chuckling softly before turning serious. "I think I need to break up with her."

Mitchie's heart did a weird thump thing as soon as the words left his mouth. "Why?"

"I think it's been coming for awhile. Things haven't been the same. And then after what you said about there being no point in being with someone if they can only make you happy a little bit of the time. Those moments I talked about hardly ever happen anymore. She's just mean and cold all the time and I'm tired of it."

"That would be a good reason to break up with somebody." She told him and he nodded.

"Yeah, but she's not gonna be too happy about it, that's for sure."

"She'll get over it. Buy herself a new boyfriend."

That got a laugh out of him. "Yeah, you're probably right." But then he looked right at Mitchie, right into her eyes, as if he was trying to say something without actually telling her. She wasn't sure what it was, but she stared right back at him, not knowing what the feelings were that were coursing through her with an indescribable amount of intensity.

* * *

It was nearly ten-thirty at night now, and Mitchie was finding it incredibly difficult to get to sleep. Something had shifted that afternoon between her and Shane, and Mitchie wasn't quiet sure what it was. He had told her he was going to break up with Rachel. She couldn't help but wonder if he really was going to do it. And if, then when was he going to do it? And was she the main cause for it? She knew it was a little shallow thinking that might be the case, but the way he had looked at her told her that it might be the case.

A muted knock on the door had her turning her head curiously, and then her eyes nearly widened when Shane walked in, as quietly as possible and shutting the door behind him without so much as a creak.

"Shane, what are you doing here?" Mitchie demanded in a whisper.

"I couldn't wait. I have to do this now or it's going to drive me crazy." He told her in a strained voice, but he was just confusing the hell out of Mitchie.

"What...what the hell are you talking about." When Shane lingered by the door, hesitant, Mitchie huffed and pushed the covers off of her before stalking up to him. "Shane, just tell me what you're doing in-"

She had difficulty finishing due to the fact that Shane Gray's lips were currently pressed against her own.

* * *

**Yeah, that's right, I left it there. Review and you'll get the next chapter fasterrrrrr. Just saying. lol**


	7. Chapter 6

**This one's a little short, but I don't care. lol It's still decent. I hope. Enjoy.

* * *

**

**Chapter 6**

Mitchie was frozen in her place when it registered that Shane was kissing her. Why the hell was he kissing her? Didn't he have a fucking girlfriend? Even if he was planning on breaking up with her, but still. Not that Mitchie really gave a shit, it's not like his girlfriend didn't deserve it. Mitchie knew she had to pull away, it would be the right thing to do. But when had she ever been the type of person who did the right thing? And his lips felt so soft and so good against hers. But she had to figure out what was going on in his head or else it would be bugging the shit out of her.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back, disconnecting their lips. "Shane..." She whispered, looking him in the eye, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

He frowned when she pushed him away, the pain of rejection showing on his face. "I'm sorry...I-" But he didn't finish, and Mitchie watched as he shook his head. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." He tried to turn and leave, but Mitchie quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Shane, wait a second, I just want to know what's going on." She kept a grip on his arm, trying to keep him from moving away again. Her lips still felt the pressure of his, and she was doing everything in her power not to just jump him right there. She wanted to, damn it did she want to, but she had to know what was going on. Why he was doing it now.

"I don't...I don't know. I just couldn't wait any longer."

"Couldn't wait any longer for what?"

"To kiss you!" He blushed and then looked away. "I don't know what's gotten into me. I was perfectly fine with Rachel, or at least I thought I was, and then you come along, and then all of a sudden I start thinking about breaking up with Rachel, and then what it would be like to kiss you. I don't know what it is about you! Jesus, you haven't even been here that long, and I'm telling you all this stuff, I just couldn't take it anymore." He sighed and finally looked at her, an apology lingering in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'll just go." He muttered, disheartened.

"Shane, wait." Mitchie stopped, once again pulling him back before he turned and tried to leave again. When he began to say something else, Mitchie stopped him by grabbing his face between her hands and pulling his lips down to hers. There was no way she couldn't not kiss him, not after the way it felt the first time, and his words only added on to her want to feel his lips against her own.

He immediately melted into her, wrapping his arms around her waist and dragging her body closer to his.

Mitchie had never wanted a kiss so badly in her life. And it was better than she ever thought it could be. It was slow, and intense, and he tasted so good. Not like any other guys she had ever kissed who only tasted like drugs and alcohol. She wondered what she tasted like to him right then and then realized that it was probably better not to ask.

He had to have liked it though, because he began kissing her harder and faster, and holding on to her as tightly as he could without hurting her. Like he was in desperate need of her, like he wanted her more than he could stand.

It was certainly how she felt, that was for sure. When she felt his tongue probing her lips, she let him, taking in every bit of him that she could. He let out a small, desperate moan, and before she realized what was really happening around her, he was gently nudging her backwards in the direction of her bed.

Pulling away from him, she crawled back onto her bed before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down on top of her where their lips once again reconnected. Her hands moved from the collar of his shirt to his hair where she gripped in a desperate attempt to keep his lips on hers at all times.

"Shane," She gasped when they were forced to pull apart because their lungs couldn't take the lack of oxygen anymore. Shane hadn't had enough though. Nowhere near enough, and he tried to get more by moving his lips down her jaw line and to her neck where he nipped and sucked and did everything he possibly could to taste as much of her as he could.

"God, Mitchie," He groaned against her skin as his hands roamed desperately over her body. He wanted her. It was ridiculous how much wanted her.

Mitchie's need and desire was getting more and more intense, to the point where her brain was hardly able to function. She didn't want to stop. Didn't think she could. But she had to. This was too fast. Too much all at once.

"Shane," She moaned when he felt his hand slip under her tank top to rest against her skin. "Shane, wait. Stop." He did stop, reluctantly, but he stopped. When he did Mitchie almost regretted it. But it was the right thing to do. "Shane we can't do this. Not now."

Shane, still panting and trying to get his lungs the air that they desperately needed, he removed his face from the crook of her neck so he could look her in the eye. "Why? What's wrong?"

"We can't do this, not now. Shane, you still have Rachel."

"But I'm gonna-"

"Break up with her, I know. But still, Shane. This is just a little too fast."

He sighed, but nodded his head. He knew she was right, wished she wasn't, but he knew they couldn't continue. Yet. "Yeah. I guess you're right." He shook his head and pushed himself off of her, with great difficulty because that was the last thing he wanted to do. "I guess I should go then." He muttered.

She panicked, not wanting him to leave. "You can stay here if you want." Mitchie offered quickly. If he left she knew there was no way in hell that she'd ever get back to sleep again. She wanted him with her, even if all they would be doing was sleeping.

"Really?" He asked, unsure. Unsure if he could go through the night without touching her in the ways that he so desperately craved.

Mitchie nodded and grabbed his hand to pull him back down. He obliged and laid down beside her. She surprised him by curling up into him, resting her head in the crook of his neck and her body leaning against his.

"You'll probably have to wake up early to avoid your mom. I'm sure she wouldn't be too happy finding us like this."

He chuckled. "Probably not. That's okay, I'll risk it." Mitchie smiled and focused on how much warmer it was laying next to him. How comfortable and safe she felt. She had never felt that way before. It was a foreign feeling, but it was definitely something she could gladly get used to. She hoped Shane was thinking the same thing.

She found it still wasn't all that easy getting to sleep with him next to her, but that may just be because she wanted to kiss him senseless. But when she did manage to fall asleep, she slept deeply and comfortably.

* * *

When she woke again, she noticed that the time was nearly four-thirty in the morning, which was obviously not an ideal time for her to be awake, but she couldn't find herself complaining because she could feel herself all tangled up with Shane.

"Are you awake?" She heard his voice whisper, in case she wasn't.

"Yeah." She said and moved her head so her chin was resting on his shoulder and she was able to look at him. He stared at her quietly for a moment before moving his hand and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear before moving his hand to the back of her neck and pulling her up towards him so he could kiss her.

She smiled and pulled away from him, but before she could say anything, noises from the kitchen downstairs could be heard and Mitchie frowned. "Shit." She said, realizing that someone was up, which meant that Shane would have to leave to go back to his own room before someone found them.

"Mom likes to get up early. The hell if I know why." He chuckled and began to wiggle out of the bed and away from Mitchie, who sighed, not ready for him to leave. "You should go back to sleep," He told her. "I'd hate for you to be cranky during school." She could tell he was teasing and she grinned and shook her head.

"Oh please, they'll be lucky if cranky is all they get out of me." Shane chuckled and leaned down one more time to peck her lips. "We'll do something after you get home." He promised and leaned down to peck her lips one more time before finally leaving her room.

Mitchie huffed and fell back onto her bed. It had been a weird night. She had always thought that Shane was attractive, and she wouldn't mind kissing him. But after it actually happened, it was much more than she had ever expected. Just thinking that sounded stupid to her, but it was true. She had no idea one guy could affect her so much, but here she was, her mind fucking blown after the night she had. Of course now she had no idea what came next. After she first hooked up with Brian, all of a sudden she pretty much belonged to him. There was no official thing, she was just with him and that was it. But she didn't know how it was going to go with Shane. Hopefully it would be figured out soon, because she was sure as hell going to drive herself crazy waiting for something, anything.

* * *

By the time she had managed to get back to sleep, it was practically already time for her to wake up again. After she got herself dressed and ready, she made her way downstairs where breakfast was already on the table. Shane was down there today. He must have had a late class or something, not that she cared, she was just glad he was there. He glanced up from his plate and sent her a small, secret smile that only she was able to decipher, thankfully. The last thing she needed was Denise finding out about what happened between her and Shane and then banning her from letting anything more happen between them. That would just suck, and she knew she couldn't let that happen.

She sat down at her usual spot at the kitchen table and immediately began eating the food that had been set in front of her. All through breakfast conversation went back and forth, which even Mitchie let herself in on a few things. But the whole time she and Shane kept sending each other looks, that thankfully no one else at the table caught onto.

"So, Shane, do you and Rachel have any plans to do anything?" Mitchie immediately tensed at the question, and she warily looked at Shane to see his reaction. He was looking down at his plate, avoiding eye contact.

"Um...actually, probably not anything...for awhile." His family gave him an odd look, and he just continued to stare down at his plate.

"Shane, is something going on with you and Rachel?" Denise asked suspiciously.

Shane sighed and finally nodded his head, sparing Mitchie a soft look. "Um, yeah. I'm probably gonna break up with her today."

Today? He was gonna break up with her today? Well that was even better than what Mitchie was going for. She had hoped, of course, but she had no idea what he planned to do when it came to what he was going to about Rachel.

"What?" Denise asked, shocked. "Why? I thought you guys were doing so well together." Really? Could she not see what happened at dinner the other night?

"Um, yeah. Not really. Things have been kinda off for awhile."

Denise eyed Shane. "Is there another girl?" She asked, and Shane's eyes widened and Mitchie nearly choked on the food she had just put into her mouth. Shit, was all she could think. Did Denise know something? Already? No way in hell.

"W-What makes you say that?" Shane asked, cautiously, not wanting to give anything away. He glanced nervously over at Mitchie, who bit her lip.

Denise sighed. "I don't know. I just thought you two were doing great, of course, I guess I can't always tell." Shane and Mitchie both released a breath of relief, thankful that Denise didn't push the subject the any farther.

"Mitchie, Nate, you two better finish up. You don't wanna be late for school."

"Oh yeah, I'd hate for _that_ to happen." Mitchie commented sarcastically, gaining a playful glare from Denise and a grin from Shane.

* * *

During school, Mitchie had another run in with Tess, not that it was all that surprising. She was the new girl. Which meant that Tess needed to teach her how things went at that school and who was in charge. It was all a bunch of bullshit to Mitchie, and knew that Tess was just a bitch with an oversized ego. She was also thin as a twig, and Mitchie would have no problem snapping her in two.

"New girl, you're in my seat." They were in fourth period history, and Mitchie had somehow managed to get their early. The past few days she had seen Tess in that seat, and thought it would be fun to test if she actually thought she owned it.

"Sucks for you." Was all that Mitchie said, not bothering to look up at the blond.

"I'm gonna make this absolutely clear." Tess sneered, making Mitchie smirk. Bring it on, bitch was all she thought. "You stay out of my way, and I won't publicly ruin you at this school."

"Is that the best you got?" Mitchie laughed. "Does it look like I give a shit about what people at this stupid school think? No one's gonna give a fuck after graduation. You're wasting your time."

She could practically feel the anger radiating off of Tess, and it just made Mitchie even more amused.

"You're done at this school." She spat before stalking off to a different seat, as far away from Mitchie as possible. Mitchie had to do everything not to just bust out laughing. That was the weakest excuse for a threat in the world. It was absolutely fucking hilarious. She was gonna have to make a habit of pissing Tess off, if it was always going to be this much fun.

* * *

Shane wasn't there when she got home, so she figured he still had some classes or something. Figured she might as well get some homework done, considering Denise had been on her ass about doing it. It sucked having to do it, but it gave her something to do while waiting for Shane to get home. She hadn't been doing terrible in school, but obviously if she put more effort into it, she'd be doing better than she was. She just didn't see the need. School was pointless. She didn't know what she was going to do after she graduated, but she sure as hell wasn't going to college. She was sick of school, which was why she always made sure to ditch while she can. Not that she'd ever be able to get away with it in Jersey, but it had been a habit of hers back in Baltimore.

She had never thought about what she wanted to be career wise. She never thought she'd make it far enough through life to actually try and think of something. Did she have that chance now? Was she gonna be able to control where her life went? It was a scary and relieving thought. She didn't have to end up like her mom. She could actually do something with her life. It was very appealing. But could she? After where her life was just over a week ago, did she have the chance to make something of herself? It still sounded fucking ridiculous to her, but it was obviously a possibility. As long as she never ended up back where she was. She would do anything to not go back to the way her life was. She liked it here, and it was worth fighting to stay.

Especially if she had Shane.

She was in the middle of doing her stupid physics homework when her phone went off. She had to fight back a grin, hoping and praying that it was Shane calling her, telling her that he was gonna pick her up so they could do something. But when she looked at the caller id, her heart sank viciously to her toes. Brian.

Shit.

With a sigh and a small, nervous gulp, she answered. "Hello?"

"Babe," She flinched. "Why the hell did you hang up on me the other night?" He demanded.

"Brian, I told you, I'm not going back to Baltimore." She hated having to tell him again. Because she knew he wasn't going to take it well. He never did. Especially when it came to her not being with him and not wanting to be with him. She wanted Shane, and though she couldn't tell Brian that, he would have to deal with the fact that she was staying exactly where she was.

"Why the hell not, Mitch? What's so special about where you are?"

"I have people that actually care about me here, Brian!" She snapped, she wasn't going to start taking crap from him. Especially if he started insulting her for not wanting to go back to Baltimore. It was her decision, and her life, and she was tired of it being put on the line every fucking night.

"I care about you!" He snapped back, sounding angry. "Where the hell are you? I'll come get you." Mitchie shut her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't deal with this. Didn't want to deal with this. She wanting nothing to do with her life that was back in Baltimore. For the first time, she felt like she was home, and she didn't want Brian to ruin that.

"Brian, I don't want you to come get me. I don't know how many times I have to say it. I like where I am! I'm not going back to Baltimore, and you are not going to come and drag me back!" And with that, she slammed her phone shut before throwing it on the floor. She was tired of being haunted by her past. She wanted to get away from it. As far away from it as she possibly could. She never wanted to go back to that apartment, back to her drug addict mother, or her ex-boyfriends gang. She didn't want to get shot in any more turf wars or drive-bys. She just wanted a normal life, filled with normal people who actually gave a shit about her. About her feelings, about her safety.

Sighing, she slammed her physics textbook closed and put her head in her hands. She had only been with the Gray's for a little while, but already her life was changing drastically for the better. She wasn't so scared anymore. She was happy. She was comfortable. And she had the possibility of having Shane.

She just hoped Brian never found out about Shane, or about where she was. She knew he would be pissed. And it was never good when Brian was pissed, because that always meant revenge on whoever did him wrong. Mitchie just hoped she didn't get in the way of that. Because then she wouldn't stand a chance if Brian and his gang turned on her. And then she'd put everyone in danger.

* * *

**Almost wasn't able to get this one done in time. lol I've kinda got a cold and it seems to have blocked off my brain. lol So leave reviews and make me feel better. Peace. **


	8. Chapter 7

**So I fell behind. I sorry. lol I got busy and didn't have time to write. But here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

**

**Chapter 7**

Nearly half an hour after she hung up on Brian, she got a text from Shane, saying that he had to do something after class which was why he wasn't home yet, but then went on to say that he was on his way home and that they'd do something after he got there. It should have made Mitchie happy, because she had been waiting all day to see Shane. But now she just felt sick after talking to Brian. She wondered if she should tell Shane that Brian had been calling her, but then quickly shook off that idea. That would just cause problems all around. She could handle Brian. As long as he stayed in Baltimore. She knew it was stupid to get paranoid about him showing up, considering that there was no possible way of him finding out where she was, but still, he had so many sources and knew so many people, it was hard to know what would happen with him. But she couldn't worry about it. Her life was finally getting better, and she wasn't going to let her past haunt her anymore. Couldn't let it control her life. She had to take control, and she would do anything in her power to do that.

And of course if Brian came, that would also be putting Shane and his family in danger. She couldn't let that happen. Wouldn't let that happen. They had done nothing to deserve that, and she would just have to make sure that Brian stayed as far away from the Gray's as possible. She didn't have any other choice.

But maybe she was just overreacting. She probably was. But she could never be too careful. She would just have to be prepared for anything. That was the only solution. No use worrying about it, she just had to make sure that she had a plan no matter what happened. It was the best she could do for the moment without knowing what was going to happen. Brian would probably try to call her some more, but she knew she couldn't answer. He had to get the picture. He had to realize that she wasn't going back. That they were over. She couldn't tell him directly. That would just lead to trouble. Way too much trouble.

Overall, no matter what happened, she would do anything to make sure that the Gray's weren't in any possible danger. She owed them that much.

Shane showed up about twenty minutes later. Mitchie hadn't done much except stay glued to her desk chair, trying to calm herself down from her worry. She didn't need Shane figuring out that something was wrong. She didn't think she had it in her to lie to him. Which was weird.

"Hey," He said with a smile when he slipping into her room, making sure to shut the door behind him. She stood up to greet him, and was happy when he felt his lips peck hers. When he started to pull away, Mitchie put her hand on his cheek to try and keep him close, but pulled back when he flinched as soon as her hand made contact with his cheek. She scrunched her eyebrows and that was when she noticed that his cheek was slightly red.

"What the hell happened to your cheek?" She asked, frowning at the mark on his face. It must have hurt or else he wouldn't have flinched when she touched it.

Shane let out a dry chuckle. "After class I caught up with Rachel and ended it. She didn't take it too well." He explained.

Mitchie's eyebrows shot up when she finally realized what happened. "That bitch slapped you?" She demanded, shocked at how angry she actually was. That girl had no right to slap Shane. The whole break up thing was coming anyways, and that bitch had to have known it. Now Mitchie wanted to track her down and beat the shit out of her. It was only fair. Mitchie scowled, plotting out the girls demise in her head when Shane interrupted her planning.

"It's okay, Mitch. It's not that big of a deal. Small price to pay." He said, smiling softly, and Mitchie knew he was right.

He may have gotten slapped, but at least that girl wasn't his girlfriend anymore, which was exactly what Mitchie had been waiting for, because now she didn't have to worry about that bitch anymore. Not that she would in the first place, but at least Shane wouldn't have to feel guilty about cheating on her.

"Still, I wanna beat the shit out of her." She scowled, but it was quickly wiped off her face when Shane's lips landed against hers and she easily fell into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Shane's neck as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

But before it could get anymore heated, a knock on the door made them jump apart as quickly as possible. Which was good, because after they did, Denise poked her head in the door, and was obviously surprised to see Shane standing there with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets, as if they had some evidence that showed that he had been touching Mitchie in a way that his mother would probably disapprove of.

"What are you two doing?" She asked accusingly, making Mitchie gulp and cross her arms, trying to act like nothing had been going on.

"Me and Mitchie were just going to go and grab a bite to eat. That okay, mom?" Shane pulled off the whole innocent thing perfectly, and it made the accusation fall from his mothers face. Mitchie was going to have to learn that. Innocent wasn't exactly what she was best at, obviously. But that was a trick she was going to have to learn for sure. It might help her get away with more things. Like her thing with Shane, which obviously needed to be hidden for now.

"Yeah, that's fine. You two have fun. Oh," Just as she was about to leave, she popped her head back in. "Mitchie, did you finish your homework?"

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "Yes, I finished the stupid homework." She muttered with a scowl.

"Good. You guys have fun. I assume you'll be skipping dinner, then?"

Mitchie looked at Shane, not knowing what he had in mind for them to do, but he nodded his head, and Denise left after she got her answer.

Mitchie let out a breath, relieved that Denise was now gone and she didn't have to worry about hiding what she and Shane were doing. "So, what exactly are we going to do?" She asked him.

"Thought we'd go get something to eat, and then just wing it from there." He grinned and she laughed.

"Not much for planning, are you?" She smiled when he laughed and shook his head.

"Nope, not really. Unless I put some serious effort into. But it's not like I had all that much time."

"Whatever. I'll be expecting more next time, just so you know." She teased, playfully nudging him before exiting her door, ready to get out of the house and spend time with Shane.

* * *

He ended up taking her to a cool restaurant that overlooked the beach. Obviously he remembered that she liked the beach enough to get distracted the first time she ran away. Except now it was under better circumstances. Much better circumstances. The food was good, but she was just liking that she got the chance to get to know Shane a little bit better without having to worry if his family was going to accidentally find them doing something they weren't supposed to be. There weren't exactly any ground rules set about hooking up with one of the boys, but still, it made it seem like it was just an obvious rule. That they were supposed to be like her brothers or something. She cringed at the thought of having to treat Shane like a brother, especially since she hadn't done so well with her other actual brothers. She much preferred to continue hooking up with Shane.

"So, you ever gonna tell me more about what your life used to be like?" Shane approached the subject carefully, which was a good idea, because that was so not the ideal conversation topic. But he looked like he really wanted to know, and that freaked her out. There were some things that he really shouldn't know about what her life was like in Baltimore. She didn't want to run him off.

"Why do you wanna know?" She tried to make it sound teasing, so he wouldn't get the wrong idea. But he also needed to get the idea that she really didn't want to tell him. Because he wouldn't like what he would hear.

He sighed and looked back down at his plate, picking at his food with his fork. "I'm just curious. I mean, you're so on edge sometimes. You're defensive, and you're so rough. And...intimidating. I just...wanna know how you got to be that way."

Okay, that definitely wasn't what she was expecting. She didn't know she was all those things. It certainly didn't feel like she was. Especially when she was back in Baltimore, it didn't feel like she was that way. She always felt scared and in desperate need of drugs or alcohol. That's all she really remembered. Always watching her back, on the look out for other gangs, getting ready to run as hard as she could if she had to.

She sighed. "Have to be that way. If you lived in that area it was all a game of survival. You had no other choice. If you were weak you were dead. All there was to it."

Shane frowned at that. "What all went on?" He pushed, not sure if he wanted to hear more, but felt more like he needed to. He had to know what she had been through. He just had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't there anymore, that whatever she had been through couldn't hurt her anymore.

"A lot of turf wars. Mainly. Drive-bys happened all the time. You ran into the wrong gang at the wrong time, you better run like hell or hope your gang comes and backs you up, otherwise, you're screwed. A lot of drug trafficking too. And if someone wanted something, they basically had to steal it or go without it. Or get your hands on some drugs and sell it for cash."

Shane poked at his food some more before trying to think of something to say. "And you've been through all of that?" He hated the idea of that, absolutely despised it. But if that was how life was in that area, what choice did she have?

She shrugged. "Yeah, I had to. That was all that went on and there was no way to avoid it. When I met Brian, it only got worse." It was probably stupid to bring up Brian, but she had to say it because it was the truth.

"What about your mom?" She held back a wince, knowing that was coming. No way to avoid it.

"She didn't care." She scoffed. "She didn't give a shit about what happened to me. All she cared about was getting her drug fix."

Shane frowned some more. "She was an addict?" He sighed when Mitchie nodded her head in response.

There was silence for a few minutes, Shane trying to process what Mitchie had just told him. He hated that she had gone through so much. Hated that anyone had to go through something like that. No one deserved that. It made Shane happy that Mitchie no longer had to go through that. But she still had the scars. And would always have the scars. But at least now her life could get better. Be better.

"Who's Dylan?" Shane asked suddenly, making Mitchie drop her fork and freeze up, looking up at Shane with wide eyes.

"Where the hell did you hear that name?" She snapped, making Shane sit back at her sudden hostility. But through the anger that had suddenly made an appearance in her eyes, he could see the pain and sadness behind that. And he instantly knew that he had approached a very tough subject for her.

"You talk in your sleep." He said quietly. He immediately regretted bringing up the subject when he saw tears brim her eyes. It made him feel bad, but he was still so curious about who this Dylan was. She always talked about Brian, but that was the only person she had ever talked about. No one else. And then he heard her say Dylan's name in her sleep and it baffled him. He had to know. But if she didn't want to tell him, he would just have to deal with it. But he really needed her to open up to him.

"It's none of your business, Shane." She told him through gritted teeth. She couldn't do this. Couldn't tell him. Couldn't get herself to talk about it. Could barely get herself to think about it. Before Shane could say anything else, Mitchie jumped up from the table and stormed out of the restaurant. She could feel the tears coming, and she didn't want to cry in front of Shane, didn't want to cry at all, but it was unavoidable at this point. She was already worked up to that, and there was no stopping it now.

She stalked out to Shane's Hummer as the tears finally fell down her cheeks in streams, not able to find the strength to hold them back.

It was a few moments later that Shane came running out after her. "Mitchie," He ran up to her and turned her to face him before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I'm so sorry."

Mitchie tried to stop crying, but it was too hard, because now Dylan was at the forefront of her mind. And she couldn't push it back.

After a few moments she calmed down, finally and pulled back wiping at her cheeks to get the moisture off of them. Embarrassed, she glanced down and avoided Shane's gaze. That was practically the second time she had broken down in front of him. At least he was handling it like a pro.

"I'm sorry, Mitch." He whispered, wiping away the tears that lingered on her cheek that she missed.

She shook her head. "Don't be. I overreacted."

She sighed and just leaned against Shane, trying to get herself together again.

"Why don't we go take a walk on the beach?" Shane suggested, pulling away from her and holding his hand out to her while gesturing towards the beach that was just in walking distance.

Mitchie just nodded and grabbed his hand and let him lead the way to the sand and waves.

They walked in silence for several moments, Mitchie mesmerized by the waves, and still stuck in her thoughts that were plaguing her when she wanted nothing more than to just forget them and never have to think about them for the rest of her life. She was glad Shane didn't press on about the subject, even though she could just tell he really wanted to. Maybe she needed to get it off her chest. Maybe it would make it feel better. She knew she could trust him. It's not like he would tell anybody.

"Dylan's my brother." She told him quietly, making sure he heard her over the sound of the waves.

Shane's step faltered, but he regained his composure a moment later and they kept on walking. "You have a brother?"

Mitchie took a deep breath and nodded her head. "Yeah, I do."

Shane waited, but she didn't offer anything else. "What happened? Where is he?"

Mitchie gulped and tried to prepare herself. "He left. When I was twelve. He had just turned eighteen and was ready to get out of there as soon as he could. He left me all by myself with my mom. We were really close, that was when things were somewhat okay. He always looked out for me, made sure I was fed and comfortable. He did his best to watch out for me. He was the only person I had. And then he just left. He promised he would come back for me. But he never did. He never came back."

More tears leaked from her eyes, but she ignored them, and instead focused on the feel of Shane's hand in hers.

"Mitch," He finally spoke, not knowing what to tell her, what he could say to help ease her pain. That was impossible. She had scars that cut so deep that there would always be pain no matter what. And he hated that for her. He couldn't stand it.

"He left me at the worst possible time. I couldn't deal with it anymore. With life. That's when I started cutting. After a few weeks, I realized that he wasn't going to come back. That I was stuck. After everything that happened, I had to focus the pain somewhere else. My heart hurt too much." She whimpered, the wounds opening up and the pain coming back full force. She had to tell him the parts she left out. She needed everything out in the open. "And after what happened with Cameron," She whimpered out his name. "I couldn't take life anymore."

Shane could practically feel her pain, and it was killing him. But this new name intrigued him. "Who's Cameron?" He asked carefully, not wanting to set her off.

"My brother." She choked out before taking a deep breath, needing to get this off her chest and out in the open. "Four months before Dylan left, Cameron was caught in a drive-by shooting. He was killed." She whimpered. "Shane, he was only ten. He was just a little boy." She couldn't continue, that was all she was able to get out. It hurt too much to try and give Shane any details. He knew, that was it. He didn't need all the details.

"Oh, Mitch." He whispered, pulling her into him and hugging her tightly, letting her sob into him. He couldn't imagine all the pain that she has been put through in her life. It wasn't fair for someone to go through all that. It just wasn't right. "I'm so sorry." He didn't know what else to say. Had no idea what he could do. There was nothing. He could just let her get all of her emotions out and be there for her, and that had to be enough.

It was several moments later when she finally calmed down and they were able to start walking again. He didn't say anything, letting her make the first move in what they needed to do next.

Another few minutes later, she stopped and turned to face him. "Thanks, Shane. For listening."

He offered her a small, sad smile. "Anytime, Mitch. I want you to know that you can trust me. With anything. I-"

But he got cut off when she placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled his lips down to hers, making sure to show him just how grateful he was that he listened to her, and put up with her. That's all that she needed, and he gave her everything he needed and more.

* * *

**Once again, sorry I fell off track, but ya know, no one's perfect. lol Please review anyways.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Here ya go, new chapter. I've been behind still, I know, but I can't do it all. I've still been sick, and haven't much felt up to writing. This chapter wasn't exactly up to the standards I like to set for myself, but I think it's okay. Don't forget to tell me what you think.

* * *

**

**Chapter 8**

After their walk on the beach, Shane led Mitchie back to the Hummer. They had stayed silent after Mitchie's confessions, a comfortable silence though. Mitchie felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had kept that to herself for so long that it was so nice to finally be able to open up to somebody. Somebody she knew she could trust with anything. She had never told anyone about her brothers before. She had never had anyone to actually tell. Brian wouldn't have cared. And she never trusted him enough to tell him. He probably already knew. No one actually knew who shot Cameron though, considering it was just a random drive-by. But it was probably a good thing Mitchie never knew. It's not like it would change anything. Her little brother would still be dead no matter what.

Mitchie took a deep breath when they made it to Shane's Hummer. She wasn't ready to go back home. Not ready to face the rest of the family. She was still coming down from her emotions that had immersed her when she opened up to Shane.

"Shane, I don't wanna go home yet." She told him, putting her seatbelt on and glancing up at him.

"Okay. Where do you wanna go?" He asked.

"I don't care. Anywhere." She just wanted to be alone with him. It didn't matter where the hell they were.

He thought about it for a moment. "I know just the place." He told her with a smile before starting his car and pulling out onto the road.

Mitchie had no idea where he was going, but didn't ask. She didn't care either way. As long as it wasn't home. She didn't know why she was so against it at the moment, maybe she just wanted to be alone with Shane, which was perfectly reasonable. And she didn't want to have to hide her thing with Shane from Denise, which was obviously what they would be doing if they had to go home. Denise was bound to get suspicious about why she and Shane were spending so much time together, especially considering their age difference. Denise wasn't stupid. If it went on long enough, she might be able to put the pieces together on why Shane broke up with Rachel. Mitchie wasn't looking forward to that happening, because she had no idea how Denise would react.

They weren't driving for very long, but when they finally parked, Mitchie looked at the windshield and her eyes widened. He had driven them to some cliff that overlooked the entire city. Mitchie had never seen anything like it before. It was gorgeous and breathtaking.

"So, what do ya think?" Shane asked, looking at her.

Mitchie smiled and looked back at him. "It's gorgeous. How'd you find this place?"

He shrugged. "My dad took us here one time, and it's kind of been one of my favorite places ever since. I come here sometimes when I need to get away. Which is why I brought you here. I figured you needed to get away for a little while. Even if you are stuck with me." He grinned, teasing.

Mitchie laughed and looked at him. "Maybe I like being stuck with you." She smirked and unbuckled her seatbelt so she could scoot closer to him.

"Oh yeah?" He smirked back, unbuckling his seatbelt as well. "Prove it." He challenged.

Mitchie's smirk broadened and she immediately leaned in closer to him and cupped her hand around the back of Shane's neck so she could pull his lips down to hers. It was soft and sweet at first, but Mitchie quickly got tired of that and immediately pushed her tongue into his mouth. She could feel and hear his moan as she did so. He had his arms wrapped around her in an instant and tugged her as close to him as she could get.

"Mitchie," He moaned as he pulled away and immediately began leaving wet kisses down her jaw line and neck. Mitchie gasped at the contact and ran her hands through his hair, trying to get as close to him as physically possible, but it still didn't seem close enough. She wanted him. She physically ached for him. She had never felt so emotionally close to someone as she had to Shane when she opened up to him about her brothers. Now she wanted to be that close to him physically. She needed him and she wouldn't stop until she had him.

"Shane, backseat." She gasped out, and they somehow managed to find their way into the spacious backseat of the car, Mitchie laying down on the seats and Shane propped on top of her, their lips attacking each others and hands wandering over everything they could touch. It wasn't long before Mitchie was tugging at Shane's t-shirt. He obliged and let her pull the fabric over his head where she tossed it on the floorboard. She wasted no time in letting her hands roam over the skin of his torso, so smooth and so much hard muscle that Mitchie wanted to feel all around her.

Her shirt was the next thing to come off, and before either of them knew it, all clothes were shed and Mitchie felt Shane moving inside of her and touching her in ways that made her eyes roll to the back of her head. He felt incredible, his body was perfect and he had the perfect muscles. He had great hands and he knew exactly how to use them. He was so intoxicating, and it felt so perfect.

* * *

It was nearly an hour later when they were finally done. Mitchie gasped as Shane collapsed on top of her, resting his head on her chest. Her chest heaved, still coming down from the high that Shane had put her on. She had had sex before, obviously, mainly with Brian, but it had never been as amazing as sex with Shane.

She had her arms wrapped tightly around him, not wanting to let him go. They were both sweating and the air in the Hummer was ridiculously humid, but Mitchie didn't care. She just wanted to feel Shane for as long as possible. Neither of them said anything, just trying to get their breathing back under control and trying to make sense of what had just happened between them.

She ran a hand through his hair that was damp with sweat, and he left soft kisses against her skin.

After awhile they were both able to calm down, but neither of them moved. It got cooler but they didn't care. They still didn't talk, just held each other not wanting to ruin the comfortable silence that immersed them.

A few moments later, Shane was the first one to speak. "You have so many scars." He pointed out, his voice rough and hoarse from not using it for awhile. To accompany his words, his fingers gently ran across some of the scars that marred her chest and stomach. "Is there a story behind them?"

Mitchie let out a short, dry chuckle. "Probably. But there's a chance that I can remember hardly any of them."

"Are they from you getting shot?" His voice caught in his throat as he asked this, as if he didn't want to hear the answe. Was too afraid to hear about how many times she had been hurt when she was in Baltimore. But he was curious.

"Most of them probably. The others might be from getting knifed." Shane's breath caught again as she said that.

"When you were shot in the drive-by, right before you came here. Was it just your shoulder that got shot?" He asked.

Mitchie sighed. "No. I was shot in my chest, and another one in my stomach that caught my lung."

Shane's head shot up so he could look at her. When she made eye contact, she could see that he was shocked and terrified at this new information. "It was that bad?" He asked breathlessly, not standing being able to hardly stand the thought of her getting shot that bad. "I mean, getting shot like that, you could have..."

"Died?" Shane flinched at the word, and the thought of it happening to her. "I thought I was dead. When I hit the ground I thought it was over. You know what the bad part was though?" Shane shook his head, urging her to continue, although not sure if he wanted the answer or not. "The bad part was that I hoped it would end. Easy way out."

Shane shook his head at that. Couldn't believe that she hated her life so much that she hoped she would die. It was heartbreaking. "Mitchie," He sighed, almost feeling tears well up in his eyes. He couldn't stand that she had been through all that. That she had seen so much of the bad things that the world had to offer. That she had to grow up in the middle of all of that. No one deserved that. No one. Especially Mitchie. Shane sighed and gently pressed his lips on top of hers.

Before anything else could happen or be said, Shane's phone went off. He sighed and reluctantly pulled away from Mitchie so he could search for his phone that was somewhere on the floorboard of his car. When he did, he cursed silently and answered.

Mitchie didn't pay any attention to what he was saying to the other person. She was just focusing on him. And how it was so easy to open up to him and tell him about what had gone on in her life. She knew it scared him to know what she had been through, she could see it in his eyes that he hated everything that had happened to her. But it just told her that he cared enough to be scared for her. That's all she had ever wanted was for someone to care about her, and now she finally had that. She didn't want to let it go. Didn't want to let Shane go.

Shane hung up the phone and sighed. "That was my mom. Says when need to get back to the house. It's getting late."

Mitchie scowled, making Shane grin and lean down to kiss her again. "Don't worry, this won't be our last time coming out here." He laughed softly and kissed her one more time.

Mitchie would most definitely make sure that it wasn't their last time.

* * *

By the time they got home, it was nearly nine-thirty in the evening, and everyone was still up. They greeted Shane and Mitchie with smiles when they walked in the house. Except for Nate, who greeted them with a curious glance that had Mitchie looking elsewhere trying to act as if it had just been an innocent outing with Shane. She didn't any one of the Gray's figuring out what was going on between her and Shane. None of them were idiots, and it would take some doing to make sure that no one suspected anything.

So without saying a word to anybody, she made her way upstairs and to her room where she shut the door behind her and collapsed on her bed.

She was already getting extremely attached to Shane, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing yet. She hoped it was a good thing, because she trusted him, and she had told him basically her life story, a story which she had never told anybody before. And she didn't plan on telling anyone else anytime soon. Shane was the only person who needed to know, and for the moment he was only person who would know. She had never felt so intensely about someone before. Someone she had an instant connection with, it had just never happened to her. The only person she had ever really been with was Brian, so it's not like she had a lot of experience with it. But she didn't care what the hell it was about Shane, she was just glad she had him now. And that was something that she obviously didn't say very often about anybody. But she felt that way about all the Gray's. If she ever needed anyone to protect her, the Gray's would, no questions asked. And she felt safer knowing that than she ever had about Brian's gang. She wasn't sure what to think of that either.

A soft knock on the door broke her from her thoughts and she lifted her head when she heard the door open and Nate step inside, smiling softly at her.

"Hey," Was all he said in greeting as he shut the door behind him and came into her room. "So, what were you and Shane doing?"

Mitchie narrowed her eyes. She knew he was suspicious, the look he gave them gave it away. Now she was going to have to get him away from that. She could do that. She could very easily do that.

"We just went out and got food."

Nate's eyebrows scrunched. "But you two were gone for the whole afternoon." He pointed out.

"So?" She asked indifferently, praying that he would just give up on it.

"That's kind of a long time to just eat."

"What's your point?"

"What else were you doing?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, no. But I'm just curious."

"No need to be." She told him, crossing her arms over her chest as she continued to lay on her bed. She wanted him to get off the subject. There was no way in hell she was going to admit that there was something going on between her and Shane, because if she told somebody, it would go back to his parents, and she did not want to see their reactions if they found out about what her and Shane were doing. Obviously they couldn't hide it forever, but Mitchie was going to hide it for as long as she possibly could, that was for sure. She was going to keep seeing Shane no matter what anybody said, but it's easier just to avoid the drama altogether.

"Alright. Whatever." Nate finally said, but Mitchie could still hear the curiosity in his voice. That much was obvious, but at least he wasn't going to push about it anymore. That was the last thing she needed. And she didn't like being irritated at Nate. He was really sweet, but he was just too curious for his own good and she wasn't thrilled at that.

"Now, do you mind? I kinda wanna be alone for a little while." Nate blushed and nodded his head before leaving, making Mitchie sigh in relief. It was gonna be hard hiding her and Shane, but she just couldn't stand the thought of his mom banning them from being together. That would just piss Mitchie off and she really didn't want to be pissed off at the Gray's. They were too nice.

She chose not to worry about it at the moment. That if someone did ever find out about it, they'd worry about it then. No use in freaking about it now.

With a sigh, she reached for her phone, realizing she had forgotten it when she went out with Shane, and her stomach dropped when she saw that she had several missed calls from the same person. Brian.

"Shit." She cursed, knowing that it wasn't good when she missed a call from Brian. Especially when there were several of them. He must be pissed now. But at least it might get her point across that she really didn't want to go back to Baltimore. Maybe he'd get the hint. She sure as hell wasn't going to call him back. That would just lead to an unnecessary confrontation between her and him. And she didn't want Brian to be pissed at her. Which he probably already was, but she didn't want to hear about it. She deleted all the missed calls and tried to forget about it. Which was hard to do, but there was no need in worrying about it. There was no way Brian was going to be able to find her. His connections weren't that good. There was just absolutely no way.

* * *

The next day at school as she was getting ready to meet Nate and leave, Mitchie was approached by that stupid jock, Jordan, who had tried to hit on her during math on her first day. She was standing at her locker, scowling as she shoved books into her backpack. She really didn't like having a locker, but at least she didn't have to carry around her heavy ass books all fucking day. When she shut her locker, she came face to face with Jordan, who was leaning his shoulder against the locker next to hers with that damn smirk on his face.

"What?" She demanded, sick of seeing his face. He just smirked wider, and Mitchie wondered what the hell his problem was. She made it very known that she hated his guts, and would happily beat the living shit out of him. He was just a douche, and she wanted nothing to do with him.

"I was just wondering what you're doing tomorrow night." Tomorrow night was Friday, and she planned to spend it with Shane, and not some creep who couldn't take a hint.

"What business is that of yours?"

He was unfazed. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out or something. Maybe catch a movie."

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "I could probably catch a movie," His smirk widened. "But it sure as hell won't be with you." She finished with a smirk when he frowned.

She began walking away from him, but he regained his composure and continued to follow her. "Come on, why don't you wanna go on a date with me?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Because you irritate the hell out of me."

"But you hardly know me."

"And I really want it to stay that way." She snapped, stepping outside of the school and immediately began searching for Nate who promised to meet her outside. She kept walking as she searched, trying to get away from Jordan.

"Come on, what harm can one date do?"

"You're quickly going to find out what harm I can do to you if you don't get the hell away from me." She snapped and tried to walk faster, but was stopped when Jordan abruptly pulled on her arm and tugged her back to him.

"Damn it, just go on one date with me."

"If you don't get your damn hand off of me, I swear to God I'll-"

"Hey!" Mitchie was cut off when she heard a voice come from closely next to them, and when she turned her head, she was surprised to see Shane making his way over to them, a glare set on Jordan's hand which was still gripping her arm. "What the hell do you think your doing?" He demanded, glaring hard at Jordan, who finally released his grip on Mitchie's arm and backed off when he saw the look that Shane was nailing him with.

"I'm just trying to talk Mitchie here into going out on a date with me. No big deal." He stuck his hands in his pockets, trying to act nonchalant, even when Shane's glare grew deadly.

"She's not interested." He hissed, making Jordan raise his eyebrows.

"I don't think that's for you to decide, man." Jordan shot back, and Shane took a step dangerously close to Jordan. Shane was taller than Jordan, and it had Jordan backing off just a step, intimidated by Shane who looked like he was ready to kill.

"Listen to me. Stay the hell away from Mitchie." He snapped. Jordan finally seemed to get the hint. He backed off.

"Fine. Whatever, dude. She's not worth this anyway." Shane took another step, looking like he wanted to beat the living crap out of Jordan. For whatever reason, Mitchie grabbed his arm and stopped him from advancing any further.

When Jordan finally turned and stalked off, Mitchie laughed, and Shane shot an incredulous look at Mitchie. "What's so funny?"

"Jealous much, Shane?" His eyes narrowed at her, but her laughter had him softening and eventually laughing along with her.

"I can't help it. If you saw the way that guy was looking at you, you'd be pissed too."

"If? Shane if you hadn't interrupted me, I would have kicked that losers ass." She smirked, and Shane laughed again. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Thought I'd pick you up and we can hang out a little bit. I already ran into Nate and told him to go home. So he's gone, so you have pretty much no other choice but to ride with me."

"Ya know, I could always walk home."

"Are you going to?"

"No, but I'm just saying it's an option."

Shane laughed and shook his head, wrapping his arm around her and leaning down to kiss her. "Let's go, I hate being at this school."

"At least you don't have to spend your whole fucking day here anymore."

"Good point." He grinned and began leading her to his car.

"By the way, you should get jealous more often. It was really kind of hot." Shane just responded by laughing and shaking hs head, placing another kiss on the side of her head making warmth spread throughout Mitchie's body. All she could think about was how good her life was at the moment. She just hoped it would stay that way.

* * *

**Don't forget to review. They're much appreciated.**


	10. Chapter 9

**So I fell behind. I had this written down in my journal for nearly a week and just now typed it up. But since it's so late, I made sure to make it extra long. Second longest chapter ever! lol Don't forget to review after! The last chapter didn't get so many and it kind bummed me out. lol  


* * *

**

**Chapter 9**

"Is there something going on between you and Shane?" Nate asked immediately after barging into Mitchie's room.

Mitchie looked up from her homework in shock, not expecting his presence or his question. And she just got started on that damn homework too, now she'll get distracted and keep putting it off. Damn it. It had been a few days since Shane had picked her up from school, and Mitchie had been trying to be extra careful to try and hide her thing with Shane. She had thought she had been doing a pretty good job too. Looks like Nate was more observant than she gave him credit for. Damn him.

"Huh?" Was her only response, still too stunned to come up with anything better. But Nate wasn't buying it. He actually looked a little angry, which confused the shit out of Mitchie. What the hell did he have to be angry about?

"Cut the shit, Mitchie," He snapped, making Mitchie raise her eyebrows at him. What the hell was his problem? Why did he seem so mad at the aspect of her dating Shane? It's not like it was any of his business anyways. "I'm not stupid, Mitchie. I can see that there's something going on between you and Shane, so don't try and lie your way out of it!"

"Okay, what the hell is your problem?" She demanded, slamming her history book shut while she glared at him.

"My problem? My problem is that I don't want you dating my brother!" He snapped.

Whoa, was all Mitchie thought. Did not see that one coming.

"Excuse me?" Where the hell did he got off telling her who she could or could not date?

"You heard me." Nate spat, and this behavior surprised Mitchie. He was acting totally hostile towards her. "I don't want you dating my brother." He said again.

"I don't think it's any of your business who I date." She snapped back at him, not going to take any shit from him. She could date whoever the hell she wanted to date, and she sure as hell didn't want to get any shit for it.

"You cannot date my brother." Nate seethed, his face nearly turning red from rage. "Stay away from him!"

Mitchie scoffed and stood so she could size him up. "Or what?" She challenged, making the younger Gray boy fume.

He ignored her question, and instead told her, "Shane is too good for someone like you. I don't want you around him."

"What?" Was all that could come out of Mitchie's mouth. "What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, getting angrier by the second. If Nate didn't shut up soon, she was going to do something she'd regret. She knew that for sure.

"You are not good enough for him. He's better off with Rachel!" He snapped, and it made Mitchie clench her fists. "He's a good person. He deserves someone better than you!"

"Why don't you tell me how you really feel." She deadpanned. What the hell had gotten into him? She had thought he was supposed to be nice. She never expected an attitude like this from him.

"Just stay away from my brother." He warned.

"I think Shane has a say in this as well. What makes you so sure he'll agree with you?"

"Because I know my brother. You don't understand. You wouldn't understand because you don't have any brothers and your mom hates you!"

That made her snap. She knew that he didn't know about Cameron or Dylan, but still. He didn't know anything about her life, and he had no right to make an assumptions.

"You know nothing about me or my family." She seethed, glaring hard at the who who she was trying not to beat the living shit out of at the moment.

"I don't give a damn about what the hell happened to you. I never wanted you here in the first place. But I was forced to be nice to you when I wanted nothing more than for you to never have been here at all!"

He must have been one hell of an actor, because she had thought he was genuinely nice. This was why she never trusted people. How could she have missed it? Did Shane know about this? Probably not. He would have told her. He would have stood up for her. Even though she could stand up for herself just fine. She was not gonna let Nate step all over her.

"Back of Nate. Now." She warned through gritted teeth.

He took a dangerous step closer to her, infuriating her even more, if that was even possible at the moment. "Stay away from Shane." He shot back and her eyes narrowed to slits.

"No." Was all she said and that was all it took for Nate to get fed up and he lifted his hands to shove her back a few steps, nearly making her stagger into her desk.

Oh, he did _not_ just shove her.

He was fucking dead now. No one got away with putting their hands on her and trying to hurt her.

She launched herself at him, grabbing him by the shirt collar and shoving him painfully against the wall. He didn't stand a chance against her. She was way too strong for him and they both knew it.

"Don't you ever touch me." She growled dangerously, furious at Nate.

Nate just scowled and managed to get his hands up again and push her back once more, harder than he had the first time, and it made Mitchie even more enraged and before she could stop herself, she lifted her first and hit Nate in the face as hard as she could, making him stagger back, grasping painfully at his nose before glaring up at her.

He quickly shot up and tackled Mitchie to the ground, trying to hit her, but Mitchie was too quick, and she jammed her knee into his stomach, but not before he managed slam his fist against the side of her face.

She tried to shove him off of her so she could get a better shot at him, but before she could, Paul, Denise, and Shane came running in after hearing the noise.

"Hey!" Paul shouted, grabbing Nate and trying to pull him off of Mitchie, while Shane wrapped his arms tightly around her and hauled her as far away from Nate as possible.

"What is going on here?" Denise demanded once Nate and Mitchie were no longer attacking each other.

"Ask them." Nate snapped, gesturing towards Shane and Mitchie before wiping the blood off his nose.

Denise and Paul glanced at Shane and Mitchie, confused. Shane looked shocked, while Mitchie scowled at Nate.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Denise asked, looking questioningly at Shane and Mitchie.

"Why don't you ask them what they've been doing together? Why they've spent so much time together! They're hooking up behind your backs!"

"Nate!" Shane shouted, appalled that his usually calm and collected brother was acting like this.

Denise eyed them, her mouth hanging open in shock at the words that just left Nate's mouth.

"Is this true?"

Mitchie looked up at Shane, who looked torn. He sighed and glanced down at Mitchie, using his thumb to gently run over the bruise that was forming below her eye where Nate hit her. Without breaking eye contact with Mitchie, he said, "Yeah, it's true. Mitchie and I are together."

Denise was silent for several moments, making Mitchie's nerves fly off the charts. This was not how she planned on Denise finding out.

"Paul, take Nate downstairs. I want to talk to Shane and Mitchie, please." She said quietly.

Shane cringed and reached for Mitchie's hand, trying to find comfort, not sure what to expect from his mother at the moment.

"How long has this been going on?" Denise questioned when Paul and Nate left. "I mean, Mitchie's only been here for a couple of weeks. When did this start?" At least she didn't sound mad, Mitchie noted.

Shane sighed. "About a week ago." He told her quietly.

"A week ago?" She repeated before sighing when Shane nodded his head in confirmation. "Were you ever going to plan on telling me this?"

"I don't know." Shane told her honestly.

Denise scoffed and shook her head. "Shane, go to your room, please." She told him. "I'd like to speak with Mitchie."

Shane's head shot up. "Mom-"

"Now, Shane." Denise ordered. Shane glanced down at Mitchie before nodding his head and reluctantly leaving the room to go to his own.

Denise didn't say anything for a moment, and Mitchie prepared herself for the yelling that was sure to come.

"Mitchie, sit down, please." Denise said, and Mitchie did as she was told, figuring it was best not to argue with anything at the moment.

"I had been wondering why you and Shane have been spending so much time together. I guess this makes sense. I'm surprised I didn't realize it before."

She still didn't sound mad. Yet. There was still plenty of time for her to get there though, and Mitchie made sure she was still prepared.

As if reading her mind, Denise said, "I'm not mad at you, Mitchie. I just wish I would have thought about the possibility of this happening." She chuckled to herself, but Mitchie stayed quiet, just waiting for Denise to tell her that she wasn't allowed to be with Shane anymore.

Noticing her silence, Denise sat down next to Mitchie. "Do you really like Shane?"

Mitchie didn't respond for a moment, not sure what Denise wanted to hear. Finally, she just nodded her head, finding no point in lying about it when it was the most true thing she'll ever say.

"Okay, then. Well, I guess I'm gonna have to set some ground rules."

Ground rules? "You're gonna let me keep dating him?" Mitchie finally said, surprise lacing her voice.

Denise seemed shocked at the question. "Of course. If you two really like each other, who am I to get in the way of that?" Denise told her. "But there will be rules set for the two of you around this house, I have to do that much at least."

Mitchie just nodded, a slow smile spreading across her lips. She could deal with that, as long as she got to keep seeing Shane, she didn't care what kind of rules there were.

"I'm gonna talk it over with Paul, and then we'll tell you and Shane together, okay?"

Mitchie nodded again.

"But, you are in trouble for fighting with Nate."

Mitchie's smile quickly disappeared. Damn. She should have seen that one coming. She was too surprised that Denise was okay with her and Shane. "Now what was the fight all about anyways?"

"He shoved me first." Mitchie defended pathetically, just trying to put that fact out there.

"I don't care who started it. You're both going to get in trouble for it either way. I just wanted to know why it started in the first place."

Mitchie sighed. No use in lying now, especially if she was going to get in trouble no matter what. "Nate told me that he didn't want me to be with Shane." She mumbled and then had a scary thought. What if Denise didn't believe her? After all, the things Nate said to her seemed out of character for him.

"Why did he say that?" Denise asked, clearly confused.

"Because he doesn't think I'm good enough for Shane."

"Is that why you two started fighting each other?"

"No." Mitchie sighed. "He said that I didn't know what it was like to have brothers. That the only reason I'm with you guys is because my mom hates me." Mitchie hated having to repeat it, but Denise was probably going to get it out of her eventually, might as well make it easy for her.

"I'm going to have to talk with Nate." Denise sighed. "I'm sorry, Mitchie. I should have warned you that he was going to be difficult. But he promise he was going to be nice."

"What?" So Denise knew that Nate didn't want her there? Why the hell hadn't this come up before? Did that mean Shane knew too? Wouldn't he have told her? He better have, or she was going to have to kick his ass too.

"When I told the boys that I was bringing you home with me, Nate didn't like it too much. Said he didn't want someone like that in the house. I told him that he didn't have a choice, but made him promise to be nice. I though he would eventually warm up to having you here. I guess I was wrong. I really am sorry, Mitchie. I'll make sure this won't happen again." She promised. Good. "But his behavior doesn't let you off the hook for fighting. You're grounded."

Well, shit.

* * *

An hour later, Mitchie was laying on her bed with an ice pack over her swollen and bruised eye that hurt like hell. That little bastard had gotten her good. She hoped she had gotten him even harder. She felt stupid for believing that Nate had been nice. He was so damn convincing. Whatever, as long as Shane wasn't the one lying to her, she didn't give ashit. All she knew was that she was going to have to find a new ride to school every morning, because she sure as hell wasn't going with Nate.

A quiet knock had her glancing towards the door with her good eye, smiling when she saw Shane enter, leaving the door open behind him.

Paul and Denise had given them the rules, one being that the door was always open when they were in the same room together. Mitchie hated it, but accepted it because it could have been a lot worse.

"You're not supposed to be in here. I'm grounded, remember?" She smirked.

Shane chuckled. "Don't worry. I had permission from the warden so I can talk to you for a sec."

Mitchie grinned and motioned for him to sit down. "What's up?"

"How's the eye?"

Mitchie shrugged. "I've had worse."

Shane nodded and stayed silent for a moment. "Did Nate really say all those things to you about your family?"

Mitchie hesitated, already sensing that he was on the verge of being very angry at his younger brother. But she couldn't lie to him. That wasn't exactly the smartest thing to try and do anyways. "Um, yeah. He did."

Mitchie watched as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I can't believe he said that to you, I can't-" He huffed, and Mitchie could feel his anger rising.

She sat up, placing the ice pack down and scooting closer to him. "It's okay, Shane. It doesn't bother me." It did at first, but then she punched him and that had made her feel so much better.

"It's not okay, Mitchie." Shane insisted, shifting slightly so that he was facing her better. "And he actually punched you!" He frowned, using his hand to gently stroke the bruise that was now under her left eye. "I should kill him for hurting you." He hissed.

"No, Shane. He's your brother." Mitchie told him. She was pissed at Nate, but the last thing she wanted was to cause a riff between Shane and his brother.

"So? He still has no right to hit you. He needs to know that I can date whoever the hell I want to date."

"Shane, don't let this be a problem. He's still your brother. Trust me, that's more important than anything."

Shane frowned and looked her in the eyes seriously. "You're important." He told her and leaned into kiss her.

Mitchie gave into him. She wouldn't let him be mad at his brother, it was a waste of time and would only end up hurting him in the end.

He was important to her, too, and she didn't want him to fight with his brother and end up like her. Wishing she still had her brothers in her life.

* * *

After the fight, Nate and Mitchie kept their distance from each other. Nearly three weeks had passed and not one word was exchanged between her or Nate. And no matter how hard she tried, there was still tension between Shane and Nate. She finally gave up when she realized there was nothing she could do to make things better between them, especially since Nate seemed to hate her so much.

Things with her and Shane had been perfect, though. They sometimes managed to work their way around his parents rules, and most of the time he spent the nights in her room.

Mitchie was finally in the process of getting her own drivers license, but for the moment, Paul was the one driving her to school. Shane sometimes too when he didn't have an early class.

It had also been awhile since she had heard from Brian, which she took as a good sign. Maybe he finally got the hint and would just leave her alone. It just seemed like there was no need to worry about it anymore.

Her past in Baltimore was slipping away with every day that passed, and Mitchie was glad to see it go. She liked focusing on where she was now. With Shane and the Gray's. With the exception of Nate, the Gray's treated her like she was part of the family.

She had never been so happy in her entire life. She didn't want it to end, and she felt as if it just couldn't. That she was always going to be this happy.

She should have known better.

* * *

Friday was always the best day of the week, considering it meant she had the whole weekend ahead of her. Which meant more time with Shane. He had been making a habit of taking her out on a date every Friday, and he never disappointed her.

He'd been running a little behind on this particular Friday though, saying one of his classes were running a little alte and that he would be home as soon as possible. So Mitchie distracted herself by doing her homework, it always tended to keep her busy.

In the middle of her English homework, Denise came in, clutching her phone in her hand, looking slightly distraught. Mitchie immediately panicked, wondering why she would be looking so upset. Did something happen to one of the guys? To Shane? She couldn't handle the thought.

"What's wrong?" Mitchie demanded, her grip tightening on the pen she was holding.

Denise let out a slow breath and sat down on Mitchie's bed. "I don't know how to tell you this, Mitchie."

Mitchie's fear heightened. "Tell me what?" She couldn't stand not knowing. What the hell was going on?

"I got a call from your social worker today."

Mitchie frowned, not expecting that to be part of the conversation. "About what?"

Denise sighed. "Your mother."

Mitchie cringed as the words slipped from Denise's mouth. Where was this going? "What about her?" Though she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "She's not trying to take me back is she?" The panic and fear made her stomach tighten.

"No, that's not it. You're not going back there."

"Then what the hell is going on?" She demanded, tired of playing games. Why couldn't she just tell her?

"Mitchie, your mother overdosed. She didn't make it."

It hit Mitchie hard, which she didn't expect. Her mom was dead? Mitchie wasn't surprised. How could she be after seeing firsthand all the things her mother had done to herself. But somehow it still caught Mitchie by surprise. Was this really happening? Was her mother really gone for good. She was surprised at how much the thought made her heart hurt.

Her mom had been her last link to her real family. Now she really had no biological family left. The ones left alive were her and maybe Dylan. But it had been so long, she wasn't sure if he was even alive or not.

"Mitchie, I'm so sorry, I know this must be a shock."

She didn't even realize she was crying until she saw Denise look at her with sad eyes.

It was a shock and it wasn't a shock. She just wasn't sure how to react. A part of her wanted to be relieved, because now she really didn't have to worry about going back to that apartment that she still had nightmares about, but the other half of her was heartbroken that she had lost her last piece of her family. She had still been her mom, no matter how horrible she was to Mitchie.

"Would you like to be alone, Mitchie?"

Mitchie just nodded her head, not fully knowing what she wanted. But she didn't want to cry in front of Denise, even though she already was.

Denise stood and placed a comforting hand on Mitchie's shoulder. "I'll be downstairs if you need to talk." And then she left Mitchie alone.

Mitchie felt numb. Beyond numb. She didn't know how to react to this news. How was she supposed to? It was obviously different for her considering her situation, so she had no idea how she was supposed to really feel.

Physically, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her, and her heart was aching painfully at the loss.

Her mother was dead. Gone forever.

More tears leaked from her eyes as Mitchie staggered towards her bed and landed face down on it.

Her heart felt heavy and she felt the beginning of a headache hit her.

She didn't know how long she stayed that way, but some time later, there was a knock on her door and Shane came in, looking slightly confused.

"Hey, is everything okay? I saw mom downstairs and she was acting pretty weird." He finally noticed the tears on her face and immediately rushed over to her side. "Mitch, what's wrong? What happened?" When Mitchie just sniffled, Shane laid down next to her and tried to brush her tears away with his thumb. "Baby, you can tell me." He whispered, looking softly at her.

"My mom." She whispered, her voice cracking at the end.

Shane's eyebrows scrunched. "Your mom? What about her?" The last thing he expected was for her to bring up her mother.

Mitchie's face scrunched and a new round of tears welled up in her eyes. "Dead." Was the only thing she could get out, but Shane understood immediately.

"Oh, Mitch," His words cracked while his heart broke for her. She had seen so much death, and dealt with so much loss. It wasn't fair. No one deserved to go through that. "I'm so sorry, baby."

Sobs wracked her body and Shane wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean into him and take his comfort.

"I don't know why it hurts so much." She gasped through her sobs. "She hated me. She didn't treat me like a daughter and she didn't act like a mom. Why does it hurt so much?" She sobbed.

"Because she's your mom." Shane replied simply, and Mitchie knew he was right. No matter what, she had still been her mom. This pain was never going to fully go away.

At least she had Shane.

* * *

There wasn't going to be a funeral. It was too dangerous for Mitchie to go back to Baltimore and try to attend any type of thing. Denise wouldn't let her anywhere near Baltimore again. She wasn't sure she would have wanted to have gone anyways. Not sure if she'd be able to stand it or not. At least now she didn't to worry about it. No one else cared enough to have anything done. For some reason, that made her heart ache even more.

Shane had been great. Leaving her alone when she needed to be and comforting her when she needed him, which was often. She didn't like to be without him. Denise had been understanding, and let Shane be with Mitchie whenever she needed him. It's not like Mitchie was much up for doing anything that would break Denise's rules anyways.

It had been a few days, and Mitchie still seemed unusually distraught. Getting worse instead of getting better.

Finally, Denise got her alone and approached the subject carefully.

"Mitchie, I think wee need to get you some help. Find someone who can help you work through everything."

Mitchie blinked. "What, like a shrink?" The though of having to share her life story with a total stranger terrified Mitchie. There was no way in hell she was going to do that. She knew Denise meant well, but absolutely fucking not going to happen.

"Mitchie, just someone who can help you. You've been through a lot, and it's not healthy to bottle it up. I won't make you do it if you really don't want to, but I think you should at least give it a shot." Denise encouraged, making Mitchie scowl.

Mitchie really didn't want to, but obviously Denise did, and Mitchie wasn't sure if she could get out of it or not.

"Fine, but if I don't like it, I won't do it again." Mitchie told her, and Denise nodded in understanding.

"That's fine. I just want you to get through this as easily as possible."

* * *

The therapists office was dull and boring. It had a few paintings on the wall, and framed psychologist degree. Mitchie sat in a rather uncomfortable chair with her arms crossed stubbornly across her chest, waiting for the whole damn thing to be over with.

"Michaela, my name is Meg." She sounded way too sympathetic, and it made Mitchie sick. She did want sympathy. She wanted help. Actually she didn't even want that, but apparently she needed it or she wouldn't be in this damn place to begin with.

"My name's Mitchie." She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice. After all, the lady hadn't done anything wrong yet. But Mitchie was just waiting for it.

"Okay, Mitchie." She corrected herself. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about your mom?"

"She's dead." Mitchie sneered. Her heart constricted as the words left her mouth though. She made sure not to show it. She didn't trust this lady. There was no way in hell she was telling her anything.

"Yes, and I'm terrible sorry for your loss."

Mitchie scoffed. "Whatever."

"I understand if it's hard for you to talk about. You've been through a lot."

"You have no idea." Mitchie scowled.

"Then why don't you tell me about it?"

"I don't want to."

Mitchie was not gonna make this easy, that's for sure.

* * *

"How'd the session go?" Shane asked when he got home from class and found Mitchie in her bedroom.

"Stupid." Was Mitchie's response. It was a huge waste of time to Mitchie. That lady stopped at nothing to try and get Mitchie to open up to her. "It was a wast of time."

Shane sighed and pulled Mitchie into his lap while sitting on her bed. "Baby, we just want you to get through this." He said while leaning his forehead against hers.

"A shrink is not going to get me through it." She said, running her fingers gently through his hair. "I just need you." She whispered.

Shane let out a small breath before leaning in to kiss her, a slow, tender to kiss to reassure her that he was there for her.

He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "You have me."

* * *

**I know some of you guys wanted Denise to find out while walking in on Shane and Mitchie. But it's no fun if I'm predictable. lol Please review!**


	11. Chapter 10

**I started on this chapter right after I finished the last one, and I was kind of on a roll with it. lol But I must give out a warning for this particular chapter, it is very intense, and starts in on some very serious issues. It's just how it goes, so don't say I didn't warn you. Anyways, read on and please review.

* * *

**

**Chapter 10**

Nearly two weeks had passed since her mother had died, and Mitchie still felt a gaping hole in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was just because of the fact that she lost her mother, or because she now had no real family left. It was probably a little bit of both, she assumed. Either way, it wasn't easy, and it wasn't getting any easier for her as time went on. She still felt on the verge of being depressed. Unfortunately she was good at hiding it. When Shane got suspicious, she was always very good at distracting him. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to know that she was still having a tough time with her mom's death or not. He would be there for her, she knew, but she didn't want to be forced back into a therapists office or any shit like that. That only made it worse.

She had her moments, but she hadn't felt truly happy since her mom died, and she wished she could. She wanted to be happy with Shane, and the Gray's and just forget about her past. But nothing worked. Everything came back to haunt her no matter how hard she tried to force it away. The pain was torturous. But she couldn't tell anybody. Who knows what they would want her to do. Part of her brain knew that the Gray's would be able to come up with something that actually helped, but she didn't want to risk it becoming any worse. Her heart was in so much pain that anything else would just make her topple over the edge. She couldn't let that happen. She had to maintain some sort of control that she had been clinging to ever since she got to the Gray's.

But she was losing it fast. She was spiraling back into things that she used to do that she had promised herself she would never do again. It was too hard to hold onto herself though. Everything in her past was hitting her, and it would never stop. She was going to be stuck with it for the rest of her life no matter how much she tried to move past it. She wanted to tell somebody what she was feeling, what was going through her head. She wanted to tell Shane who had been worried about her. She could tell, it wasn't hard to notice. She could see it whenever she looked into his eyes. He never brought it up, and she knew it wasn't because he felt awkward about it. It was because he didn't want to push her. He wanted her to be able to open up to him like she had before. But she just couldn't get herself to do it. She felt so bad about it, but her pain and her grief were too much to put on his shoulders.

She had started cutting again. She didn't know when she decided to do that. It was when they Gray's had gone out to eat, and she had said that she didn't feel good and decided to stay home and rest. She had felt fine, and somehow she knew that they knew that, but they didn't push her. Part of her wished they had, then maybe now her wrists wouldn't have several new and fresh marks on them. But she couldn't blame that on them. Obviously she would have found another time to do it.

Now she had just been trying to hide the marks. Wearing bracelets and long sleeved shirts had always worked before, and thankfully she had an excuse to wear long sleeves seeing as it was early December and freezing outside. But she had to make sure that Shane didn't see them when they were alone and it was too warm in the house to wear a sweatshirt or sleeves. He hadn't caught on yet, but he knew something was wrong. He always did. She just had to make sure that he didn't find out. She had promised him she would never cut again, and the guilt made her already tortured heart ache even more at the thought of breaking a promise to him. The thought of hurting him in any way killed her. But it was the only thing that worked.

It was getting worse, too. She was starting to depend on it. She had never felt that way before. Even back in Baltimore when she did it, it was just to try and distract her from everything else in her life. Now it was almost like a lifeline, if she didn't hold onto it and keep doing it she was gonna lose everything. She knew that was a bad sign, that it was just going to get worse. But she couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop.

It was another night that the Gray's were going out to eat, and Mitchie once again made up an excuse as to why she didn't want to go. She was losing track of all the times she was doing that, and she knew it was going to start to make them even more suspicious. She had only been out with them a couple of times to try and keep up appearances, but now all her lies were feeling like they were piling up. Shane had given her an odd look that she couldn't decipher when she had fed them another excuse. He had leaned in to kiss her and then told her that he'd see her later, like he usually did, but he still had the strange look on his face. She didn't know what to make of it. But she didn't think too much of it, she had other things she had needed to do at the time. As long as he left she didn't have to worry about it. She'd make up something later, she knew. She had been able to talk herself out of worrying about it, that it would be pointless.

After she was sure their car had driven off, she dashed upstairs and holed herself up in her bathroom like she usually did and found the razor blade that she kept well hidden. She knew she had to make it a good hiding place, knowing she couldn't risk anybody else finding it. Good thing they had plenty of good hiding places, and the fact that most of the guys didn't like wandering into the girls bathroom, especially since it was just Mitchie's and she didn't have to share it with anybody. That made it a whole lot easier on her.

She made sure to shut and lock the bathroom door behind her, just in case. She could never be too sure. The last thing she wanted was to get caught, though she was fairly certain that it would at least be three hours before the Gray's came back. Plenty of time. Too much time. She pulled the blade out from her hiding place as she leaned against the counter, her back facing towards the mirror as she twiddled the object in her fingers. It always took her awhile to get started, the guilt of what she was doing eating away at her. But then everything would hit her full force to the point that she thought she might go insane if she didn't feel the pain across her skin.

She took a deep, shuddering breath before letting the blade tear across her flesh. She bit her lip as the pain seemed to transfer from her heart to the new cut on her wrist and she let out a shallow breath of relief. It was just for a moment, but it worked.

Another breath, and she lifted the blade yet again and tore another line across her wrist, but before she was finished, a loud knock made her jump, effectively make her cut herself deeper than she intended to. She gasped in pain and dropped the blade as she groped at her bleeding wrist.

"Mitchie, open the damn door!" Shane? What the hell was he doing? He wasn't supposed to be there! She saw him leave!

She stood, frozen in her spot, too shocked and stunned to move even as her wrist bled at a dangerous pace. She was busted, she was so busted. She jumped when another loud knock pounded against the door. "Mitchie!" Shane yelled again. She frantically searched for a towel so she could cover the deep wound in her wrist. She was crying now, and shaking uncontrollably. What was wrong with her? She slid down the counter until she reached the floor, trying very hard not to make any noise. She didn't know what to do about Shane, and she was just thankful that she had locked the door.

"God, damn it, Mitchie! Open the door!" He shouted desperately, and she could hear him rattling the door knob furiously and cursing when he realized it was locked. She wanted to unlock it, and let him in. Let him help her. But she couldn't. She just couldn't and she didn't know what was wrong with her.

It was silent for a moment, and she thought that maybe he just left. But then she heard the lock turning, and her heart nearly stopped. Shit, shit, shit, was the only word that was forming in her brain. Tears were still falling down her cheeks at an extreme pace and her hand was gripping tightly to the towel that was covering her wounded wrist.

The next thing she knew, the door swung open and she saw a frazzled Shane looking at her with wide eyes. She wondered what she looked like, and imagined it was not a good picture.

"Mitchie," He gasped, his eyes immediately filling with tears as the realization of what she was doing really hit him. It didn't take him long to rush over to her side, his hands immediately reaching to hold her face between them as he looked at her, scared and angry at the same time. "What the hell are you doing?" He demanded, tears finally beginning to fall down his cheeks, making Mitchie's heart shatter. He finally took notice of her wrist, and the towel that was nearly bled through, and his eyes widened even more. "Mitchie!" He gasped again, carefully grabbing her wrist so he could inspect. "Mitchie, we have to get you to a hospital."

"Shane-" She went to protest, but found her voice weak and not willing to cooperate.

"Shut up! Just shut up, Mitchie!" Shane shouted, trying to find something else in the bathroom to help stop the bleeding. He found another towel, and replaced it with the now ruined one. "Hold on to that, Mitchie, press down on it hard." He ordered, and she did as she was told, but found it hard to move let alone press down very hard. When he made sure she was doing that, he looked up into her eyes, and she couldn't decipher through all the emotions that were swimming through his teary eyes. "I'll be right back, okay?" She nodded and he stood and walked just outside of the bathroom. She could hear him on his phone, and knew immediately that he must be talking to Denise. Her heart sank. She wondered how much trouble she was going to be in. She knew she wasn't going to be able to get away with this.

A few minutes later, Shane came back and kneeled next to her, looking absolutely heartbroken. "Mom and dad are on their way back and we're taking you to the hospital." He told her firmly, which meant that she sure as hell better not argue with him. She was suddenly too tired to argue with him. She had an overwhelming urge to close her eyes and fall asleep, and never wake up again. "God, Mitchie, you're so pale." Shane whimpered, terrified. But when he noticed her eyes closing, he immediately spoke up, shaking her slightly. "No, Mitchie! You have to stay awake! Do you understand me? Keep your eyes open!" He ordered, and she could hear him holding back sobs. It wasn't registering with her how much she was hurting him at the moment. Nothing was registering with her at the moment. Everything was out of whack.

She was trying to keep her eyes open. For him. But she was just so tired, and her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. She couldn't keep hurting him as much as she was, but how much more could she hurt him? But she couldn't keep trying not to anymore, it was getting too hard to keep her eyes open. She tried to focus on him, but he was fading, getting farther and farther away from her. Finally she just succumbed to it. She couldn't do it anymore.

"Mitchie? Mitchie, no! Open your eyes, baby. Please!" Shane sobbed, trying to shake her awake again. She could feel his hands on her face, gently shaking her, but now that they were closed, she wasn't so sure she could open her eyes back up. And the darkness was surrounding her. She flashed back to when she was lying on the street with three bullets in her. There wasn't as much pain this time, but the desire to give into the darkness was just as strong if not more so.

"Mitchie, please! I love you!" He sobbed desperately. "Do you hear me? I love you! Please, stay with me!" That was the last thing she heard before she drowned in the darkness.

* * *

When her eyes opened, it wasn't very bright, but it wasn't completely dark either. Everything was fuzzy and her head hurt like a bitch. She blinked a few times, ignoring the ache in her head before everything cleared up. She was in a hospital. That much was obvious. How long she had been there, she had no idea. She looked around the room, and found a clock on the wall. Two-thirty-four in the morning. Great. Now no one will be awake to tell her what the hell happened or how long she had been out of it. She glanced down at her wrists and frowned when she saw that they were bandaged up. She tried to remember all that had happened before she blacked out, but could only remember bits and pieces. She had been so out of it at the time, it wasn't surprising that things weren't coming very clearly. She knew that Shane had busted her. She wondered if he was mad at her. Or if he had even been here.

After a moment, she heard sniffling coming somewhere from her right. She glanced over and saw someone laying on the couch that doubled as a guest bed. Her eyes were still adjusting to the lighting, so she couldn't make out who it was. She could tell they were obviously crying, and once she finally looked long enough she could make out who it was, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be happy or worried.

"Shane." She croaked quietly, but it was so silent in the room that he heard her. He shot up, nearly falling off the couch in the process before stumbling over to the edge of her hospital bed. When she got a good look at him, she frowned. He was a mess. His short hair was in absolute disarray, and it looked like he hadn't shaved in days. If he didn't look so sad and heartbroken he would have looked extremely hot.

"You're awake." His voice cracked, and before she could even comprehend what was happening, tears were falling from his eyes and he was sobbing. Her frown deepened and she used her hand to reach up to him, thankfully it was the one that wasn't hooked up to all the machines and shit. He noticed her hand going for him and he immediately grabbed it before sitting on the edge of her bed and holding tightly onto her hand. After his sobbing calmed down a little, he was finally able to speak through his tears. "God, Mitchie." He sniffled. "I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up." He whimpered. "The doctors weren't even sure. You lost so much blood, Mitch, they weren't sure they could do a transfusion in time." He let out a shallow breath, loosening his grip on her hand slightly before leaning down and kissing her fingers.

"What were you thinking, Mitch?" He asked after a moment. "How could you do this to yourself?" He sobbed a little bit again. "You promised me you wouldn't do it again, Mitchie." His voice was getting stronger, angrier. "You promised me!" He looked at her, and she could see the anger and the intense pain and torture in his eyes. "Why did you do it?" He whimpered, his face crumpling again as one of his hands traced over the bandage on her wrist.

She didn't say anything. Not sure she could. She couldn't fix this now. She had made things so bad for herself, and Shane. Nothing she could say would fix it. The damage was done. His hand left her wrist so he could stroke her cheek, trying to get any kind of contact with her that he could. Mitchie sighed softly and leaned into his warm touch.

"This has been the worst week of my life, Mitch." A week? Had it really been a week? She was just waking up now? What the hell?

"A week?" She forced the words out of her throat. How could it have possibly been that long?

"Apparently that deep cut hit something important." Shane muttered, trying to avoid details. "You lost a lot of blood."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, looking up at him with sad eyes.

He sighed, deeply and shakily before leaning down to kiss her, lingering, wanting every bit of contact he could get with her. After almost losing her, he wanted to cherish every second with her he could get. "Please don't ever do this to me again, Mitch. I don't think I could stand it. I don't wanna lose you." He whispered, his heart aching in protest at just the thought of never seeing Mitchie again.

She didn't say anything, instead just removed her hand from his and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him to her so she could sort of hug him. It was awkward considering she was still in a hospital bed and could only use one of her arms, but she figured that it was what both of them needed. She could feel Shane's tears as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck.

She knew she couldn't hurt him anymore, because every tear the fell down his cheek hurt worse than a million blades to her wrist.

* * *

Mitchie was released from the hospital a few days later, after a couple more blood transfusions and plenty of fluids. Shane had stayed with her the whole time, after leaving for a couple hours after Mitchie had talked him into going home and getting a change of clothes and decent shower. He was reluctant to do so, but since he knew that Mitchie was okay, it was a little bit easier for him to leave. But he made sure that someone else was there with her, and it was usually Denise, who had been teary eyed and on the verge of hysterical when she saw that Mitchie was awake.

Mitchie was glad to be home though. She hated hospitals, but it had been easier being there when there was always someone with her. Jason and Dani had come to visit her and stayed a few hours. The only person she hadn't seen was Nate, but she couldn't say she was surprised. He probably didn't care less about what happened to her.

Before she could make a beeline up to her room as soon as they got home, Denise stopped her. "Mitchie..." Mitchie stopped and turned to face Denise curiously. "I think you should stay with Shane for a few nights." She suggested.

Okay...what?

"Huh?" Mitchie let out, shocked. Wasn't one of their rules that she couldn't stay with Shane?

Denise chuckled softly and shook her head. "I just don't think you should be alone for a little while, Mitchie."

Mitchie frowned. She should have seen that one coming, and she couldn't say she blamed Denise. It was just a little surprising.

Shane thought it was too, but he wasn't complaining about it. He agreed wholeheartedly about Mitchie not being by herself for the next little while, however long that might be. Until they trusted her enough not to hurt herself again. Mitchie honestly couldn't say she could figure out when that will be, unfortunately. Maybe being with Shane will help. Now that it was out in the open, she wouldn't have to bottle things up anymore. Maybe it would just be easier to open up to him. It definitely couldn't do anymore damage than she had already done, that was for sure. And Shane would listen. She knew he would. He always did.

* * *

That night, she was laying with Shane under his covers, her head in the crook of his neck and his arms wrapped protectively around her. It was late, but both of them were wide awake, they were just quiet. She knew he wanted to talk about everything that had happened, but could tell that he was reluctant to bring it up, whether it was because he didn't want to upset her, or he didn't want to upset himself, she wasn't sure. Finally, after several moments of somewhat comfortable silence, he spoke up.

"Mitch?" He asked quietly, as if afraid to break the silence that had surrounded them.

"Hmm?"

"You haven't told me why you started cutting again." His voice broke slightly, and she knew he was trying to stay in control of his emotions. To help, she placed a soft kiss against the skin of his neck, and she could feel him relax a bit as she did so. She knew she had to tell him though. Get everything out in the open so he could help and so he could know. She knew it was driving him crazy.

"Everything became too much." She whispered. She didn't have to speak very loud because her lips were right next to his ear. "After my mom died...Everything began building up. I was scared that I would never escape my past, that it would always keep me from being happy no matter what I did. I was hurting so much. I had lost the last connection I had to my family. I felt so alone." She stopped, taking a deep breath trying to ease the tightness in her chest. "I didn't want to tell you, because it hurt me so much, I didn't want to hurt you with all my issues. I know it was stupid, but that's how I felt. Everything just hit me all at once, and it seemed the only thing I could control was with the razor blade."

Shane was silent for a few moments, trying to process what Mitchie just told him. "I don't know why you still think you can't open up to me." He said quietly, and it had Mitchie leaning up on her elbows to look up at him.

"Shane, I told you. I didn't talk to you because I-"

"Because you didn't want to hurt me, yeah I know." He cut her off. "But damn it, Mitchie. Don't you understand that you hurting yourself, nearly killing yourself, hurt me so much worse than anything you could ever talk to me about!" Mitchie frowned when she saw the pain swimming in his eyes, and she knew he must have been flashing back to when he found her in the bathroom. "At least if you tell me what's wrong, I could try to help! My mom will help, my dad will help!" Shane huffed. "God, Mitchie. We want to help you. But you have to let us." He told her, tears welling up in his eyes and Mitchie hated seeing that. "I can't lose you, Mitchie. I just can't." He took a breath, and pulled her closer to him, leaning down so he could kiss her.

Mitchie could feel the desperation in the kiss, the pain and the intensity. It got heated fast. Shane rolled so her back was against the mattress and he was on top of her, his lips attacking hers furiously. It wasn't a normal kiss. Shane was putting absolutely every emotion he was feeling into the kiss, and it was overwhelming Mitchie. Her heart was racing, and her mind was going blank.

He pulled away after a few minutes, gasping for air, as was Mitchie. He stared down at her and she couldn't even tell what all was going on in his eyes. They were so intense.

"Mitchie," He said after they both got their breath back. She looked up at him, her hand running through his hair.

"Hmm?" She said, savoring the feel of his body on top of hers.

"I love you."

She froze as soon as the words left his mouth, and then she had a flashback to when she was just about to black out from the blood loss. He had said he loved her. And he was saying it again and looking at her with those eyes. She finally realized what emotion was going through him. Love. She had never seen it before. Not like that. Nothing like that. She smiled softly and leaned up to kiss him on the lips. She knew the words she was about to say were the most true thing she'd ever tell somebody. She felt it in her damaged heart that was healing the more she was with Shane.

"I love you, too."

* * *

**I dunno what compelled me to write such a depressing chapter, maybe it was the music I was listening to. lol I dunno. Review anyways please. lol**


	12. Chapter 11

**I know, it's been awhile. I'm not perfect. But here's another one. Enjoy.

* * *

**

**Chapter 11**

Mitchie stirred when the morning sunlight filtered through the crack of Shane's curtains. It was early. Earlier than she probably needed to be awake on a Sunday morning. She took a deep breath and was overwhelmed by the comforting scent that belonged to Shane, and she realized that she had completely tangled up with him during the night, so much to the point that she couldn't tell which limbs belonged to who. She wasn't complaining. Especially after the revelation last night of being in love with him. She had never been in love before, maybe she thought she had when she was with Brian, but how was she supposed to know that it wasn't true? Brian was the only person she had actually ever been with long term, and the feelings weren't even half what she felt when she was with Shane. She never thought she could say those words and mean it as much as she meant it when she told Shane she loved him. She had never realized what she felt for him was love. She thought it was just some intense attraction that had her wanting to be with him all the time. Never had she considered they were one in the same.

She blinked open her eyes, and immediately saw Shane's sleeping face, and it made her smile. It was one thing to be in love, but it was a whole other thing entirely to have those feelings reciprocated. Shane Gray was in love with her. She didn't understand why he was, or what exactly he saw in her. But he saw past everything she had been through. Past the fact that she used to do drugs, or that she nearly killed herself cutting, or that most of her life she had been doing something illegal. He saw the good in her. The potential she had. How could she have ever gotten so lucky as to have Shane Gray see all of that in her? She certainly hadn't done anything to deserve him. Maybe she was really, finally, getting a break. She never thought she'd see the day.

She took a deep breath as she nuzzled her nose against the skin of his neck, and somehow managed to bury herself further against him. He was so warm and comfortable she might have a hard time getting out of bed. Actually, there was no might about it. She had a strong urge just to stay cuddled up in bed with him all day, or for as long as possible. Maybe Shane would agree.

He was in love with her. He sure as hell better agree.

A few moments later, she heard Shane sigh, and saw his eyes opening. He blinked a few times, trying to break out of his sleepy haze, but when he saw her, his smile spread easily across his face. "Morning." He told her, his voice still thick with sleep.

She smiled back up at him. "Mor-" But she was cut off due to the fact that Shane chose that moment to cover his lips with hers. She fell easily into the kiss, of course, and she responded with just as much enthusiasm that he did. "...ning." She gasped out when he pulled away. Not a bad way to wake up if she did say so herself. Shane just grinned at her and leaned down to peck her lips again. "What was that for?" His smile was so contagious it had her smiling back at him.

"Just because I can." He told her simply, and it made her laugh softly.

"Well, you're allowed to do that all you want." She smirked at him before leaning up so she could kiss him fully again. But before she could, there was a sharp knock on the door, making Mitchie huff when she was just inches away from his face.

"What?" Shane called, pouting at having been interrupted.

"Breakfast." Nate snapped through the door, and Shane's expression immediately hardened. Shane hadn't been thrilled with the fact that Nate hadn't visited Mitchie in the hospital, or showed any ounce of concern for her like any normal person would do. Mitchie had tried to change his mind, saying that it wasn't that big of a deal, but was Shane listening? No. Of course not. She didn't want him to be mad at his brother, but no matter what she said, Shane was going to be angry with Nate anyways.

Shane sighed and shook his head, before reluctantly sitting up. "Looks like we don't get to stay in bed all day."

Mitchie sighed too. "Bummer." She was really looking forward to doing that. And now she was going to have to suffer through a breakfast with Nate. Joy. That was not her ideal way to spend a morning, especially after the night she had with Shane. At the moment, all she wanted to do was spend every second of her time with Shane. That would just make everything absolutely perfect.

As she was getting out of bed to go across to her room so she could brush her teeth, she realized that the gaping hole that had been in her chest was suddenly gone. It didn't hurt anymore. Instead all she felt was an overwhelming feeling that was aimed towards Shane. He really was helping her heal. She didn't know that telling him she loved him would have such a positive effect. She was glad though. She was ready to be happy for once, without something haunting her. She didn't have to worry about her mom anymore, and Brian hadn't tried to make contact in nearly a month. Maybe things were really starting to look up for once. But she wasn't going to get her hopes up. She knew that would just be a bad thing to do. But she could take advantage of the happy times she got, and all the time she got with Shane. She wasn't going to take any of it for granted. That was for sure. She wanted every second to count, because she never knew when her life was going to get flipped upside down all over again.

* * *

Breakfast wasn't as awkward as she had thought it would be. Everyone was talking, and eating happily. Except for Nate, of course. Who was scowling and glaring down at his eggs and bacon. Mitchie did her best to ignore him. Which was now thankfully an easy thing to do, because Shane was very good at distracting her from the negative. Everyone was still glancing at her every now and then though. They were probably still worried about her, and she couldn't blame them. When she went off the edge, she really went off. And she could see why they would worry about it happening again. But at the moment, she could probably tell them that she'd never do it again as long as Shane would love her. She never thought it'd be that easy, but she's been wrong before. Plenty of times.

Shane ended up driving her to school. It was so nice that she was able to kiss him before she left for the hell that was school. The thought that she was going to go home to him made it a little easier to get through the day. He was always gonna be there when she got home. The thought made her heart flip happily in her chest.

Unfortunately, some of the people at school made it as difficult as possible for her. Namely Nate and Tess.

On her way to fourth period, Nate practically rammed into her side, knocking all of her stuff out of her hands. She turned, fully prepared to beat the living, no good shit out of him. But he was already walking down towards the end of the hallway and she knew it wasn't going to be worth it. It would just look like she was the one that attacked him, and he was not worth getting in trouble for.

And Tess was just a bitch, as usual. It was easy to ignore her and her stupid lackies. But still, she was like a fly that just wouldn't get the fuck out of your face. All Mitchie wanted to do was whack the hell out of her with a folded up magazine and be done with it. But she managed to get through the day without causing anybody physical harm. She considered that a very high accomplishment considering her track record. And she was someone in a pretty good mood when she went outside at the end of the school day to try and find Shane's car. She found him parked nearby, and she happily climbed into his car. But the happiness drained away at the somber look on his face.

"What?" She demanded, a frown taking over her features. These expressions were never good. Denise had almost the same one on her face when she told Mitchie that her mom was dead. What could Shane know? She was almost afraid to find out, but she knew she didn't have much of a choice.

"You got a call today." He wasn't looking at her, and his voice sounded rough and almost angry.

Mitchie took in a shaky breath. "A call?" This confused her, considering her cell phone had been in her pocket the entire day.

"On the house phone." Shane explained, his voice strained with repressed anger, and it made Mitchie bite her lip because she knew it must be serious if Shane was angry about it. That worried her.

"From who?" She finally asked, already mentally wincing at what his answer was going to be. Who could have called her that would be getting Shane so worked up like this? It didn't make any sense to her.

"A guy named Brian. Said he was one of your friends from Baltimore."

Mitchie's heart stopped right there in her chest. Brian? How in the hell did he find out the Gray's house phone? That was a bad sign. It meant that he was close to figuring out where she was. Shit. Suddenly Mitchie's heart started to race in fear. This couldn't be happening to her. Not when she just got out of a bad situation. Why couldn't she just be happy? She should have been more worried about what Brian was doing. More concerned about the possibility of him finding her. She just didn't think it had been possible!

Before she could say anything, Shane continued. "Have you talked to him before, Mitchie? While you were here?" He turned his head and glared at her, and Mitchie was suddenly surprised. Was he mad at her? What the fuck was he mad at her for? She didn't do anything wrong? Okay, maybe she talked to Brian before and didn't tell anyone, but she didn't want to bring her past life into the Gray household anymore than she had already. Wasn't that understandable? Couldn't he see where she was coming from? Obviously not, because Shane was not happy.

"Shane, I-"

That was the only answer he needed. He scoffed and shook his head before hitting the steering wheel, making Mitchie jump. She had seen him angry before, but never had it been directed at her. He had always been nice to her, even when she didn't deserve it. He had always been the one to offer her a smile whenever she needed one. And he fucking always listened to her no matter what. What the fuck was changing now? Just because they admitted that they loved each other he had a right to get mad at her just because she had been talking to her ex-boyfriend? Where was the fairness in that? Especially because she hadn't even wanted to talk to Brian in the first place. But she had just been trying to get rid of him and get it through his head that she wasn't going back to Baltimore and that she didn't want to be with him. It was better than him getting involved with the Gray's.

"What the hell, Mitchie?" Shane snapped, and Mitchie flinched, surprised at his sudden outburst, and this unnecessary anger. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were talking to him? He said he was trying to find you, Mitchie! He's dangerous!"

Like she didn't know that already? She had known the guy for several years. She had seen what he was capable of, and it was not for the faint of heart. She didn't say anything, and after a few moments, Shane calmed down a little bit, but he didn't say anything, so Mitchie knew this was the opportunity to defend himself.

"Shane..." She tried to find the right words. "I tried to get rid of him. I didn't want him coming anywhere near here. I didn't think he would find out where I went! Let alone actually come after me! I do know that he's dangerous, and I know what he's capable of, Shane! I'm the one that grew up with him. You think I wanted him anywhere near you or your family?" Now she was getting angry. Great. Just hours after telling each other they loved one another, they were having their first fight. Wonderful. Damn Brian. It was all his fucking fault. As always.

"You should have told us, Mitchie." Shane said, not sounding as angry as before. But now she was the one all worked up. Her potentially psycho ex-boyfriend was trying to find her, and she had a feeling he was closer than ever. That thought didn't sit well with her. At all. What if he found her? What would he do? Did he have other members of his gang to help get her? That thought terrified her. He never took more than one member of his gang off the turf unless it was serious. She wasn't that big of a deal to him, right? Obviously she was if he was trying so damn hard to find her.

"There's a lot of fucking things I should do, Shane." She snapped. "I think we have bigger problems than me trying to keep your family away from Brian."

Shane shook his head and his jaw clenched, obviously on the verge of anger again. "Let's just go home." They didn't say a word the whole way back, and Mitchie could feel the tension between them. She hated it. She hated Brian for doing this to them.

* * *

When they got home, no one else was there. Shane had said that Denise went out to get some groceries, and that Paul was working. And Nate was probably just avoiding her as much as possible. As soon as they got into the house though, Mitchie made a beeline for her room, ignoring Shane. She was still slightly peeved at him. She threw her bag down on the floor and dropped onto her bed, putting her head in her hands. She was tired of this. Words couldn't describe how sick she was of all this stupid shit that followed her around. She just wanted out of it. Of everything.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and realized she had kept it on silent during school. The muscles in her stomach tightened painfully when she saw that she had six missed calls from Brian. She had to end this. Right now. She couldn't let him come close to Shane or any of the other Gray's. They were too important to her.

She dialed his number and listened to it ring. If he didn't answer she was gonna fucking beat the shit out of him. She was sick of this.

"Torres." Was the first thing he said when he answered. He didn't sound happy. Of course, she never knew. He smoked and did so many drugs his voice was bound to be hoarse for the rest of his life.

"Brian, what the fuck are you doing?" She tried to sound as dangerous and intimidating as possible, but it wasn't an easy feat when she was talking to Brian. But it wasn't hard to sound angry, considering she was absolutely fuming. There was no way in hell she was going to let him fuck up everything that had gone right in her life. And she couldn't let him hurt the Gray's. That would just be the worst imaginable pain that would ever happen to her. The Gray's were too important. Shane was too important.

Brian let out a scoff. "Me? Why the fuck haven't you been answering my calls? I've been trying to get ahold of you for a month. I finally found the number for the dumbass people you were staying with." Mitchie's anger hitched even more.

"Fuck you, Brian." She snapped, angrier than she ever had been before at him. "You leave my family alone. And you stay the hell away from me, or so help me God, you will regret it, Brian." She hissed.

Brian was silent. "What the fuck are you talking about, Mitch? I'm busting you out."

"I don't need to get busted out, Brian." She was trying not to yell, because she didn't want Shane to hear her. But it was hard keeping her anger under control without telling Brian exactly how she felt about him at the moment. "Stay. Away. From me. Do you understand me?"

Brian scoffed again, except now he sounded pissed, and she wasn't surprised. "What the fuck is going on with you, Mitchie? I thought you loved me! I'm going to find you, Mitchie. And you're coming back to Baltimore with me whether you like it or not. Pack your bags, Torres." And then he hung up.

Mitchie's hand was gripping her phone so tight she thought it was going to break. Brian couldn't find her. There was no way in hell. He wasn't that smart, and his drug addict sources were brain damaged. But she still had reason to worry. When Brian got pissed, he got really pissed, and she was afraid she just put herself in a really bad situation. And not just her, but Shane and his family too.

* * *

Things were silent for a few days. She was still a little pissed at Shane, and he made no effort to try and talk to her either. It was a really suckish way to spend their time after the night they told each other they loved them. It wasn't fucking fair. All because she didn't tell him that she had talked to Brian. She didn't tell anyone about her recent conversation with that particular asshole either. He was just gonna have to fucking deal with it. It wasn't any of his business. Brian was her problem. There was no way she was going to make the Gray's deal with him. It was too dangerous.

Brian's threat still lingered in her mind, but she wasn't sure if he was going to go through with it or not. She figured if it got too serious, she would have to tell Denise and Paul. There was no getting around that. It wouldn't be good for her to put herself in such a dangerous situation. Again. She was so bad about that. But she just didn't want any harm to come to the only people that really cared about her. The thought terrified her and made her sick to her stomach.

One night when she was just sitting in her room alone, wanting to be by herself, Shane knocked and quietly came in. Mitchie chose not to look at him, she hadn't gotten over him getting mad at her for a stupid reason.

"Mitch?" He asked quietly, edging into the room, shutting the door behind him, blatantly breaking his parents rules about the open door. Mitchie still didn't look at him, instead just crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn gesture.

"What?" She asked, feeling the bed dip when he sat down next to her on the edge of it. She could feel his nerves and desperation radiating off of him.

"I miss you." He whispered, sounding so sad she just had to look at him. His gaze was on the floor, and he really did look genuinely upset. "I didn't mean to get so mad the other day." He admitted. "I was just upset that you were talking to him. I was mad for all the wrong reasons, and I was too prideful to admit it. But this isn't how I wanted to spend the last few days. I miss you." He said again, finally looking up and meeting her gaze.

Damn it, how could she not forgive him? She sighed and sat up all the way, reaching over to grab his collar and pull him towards her. He followed willingly until their lips met in a desperate, but slow kiss. It was intense, and wonderful, and everything that Mitchie loved. It made her realize how stupid she was for wasting her time being mad at him. They were both stupid for getting so mad in the first place. As long as they made up like this, Mitchie didn't care how many times they fought. As long as it didn't last. She loved him. The way she loved him made it feel like she was going to love him forever, and the thought was very appealing to her.

She moaned lightly and ran her hands through his hair and pulled him closer, wanting to feel him against her. Needing the comfort of him. His warmth, and his smell, and just everything that was him.

When they pulled away, gasping for air, Mitchie looked up at him on the verge of crying because of all the feelings for him that were overwhelming her. "I love you, Shane." She told him.

Shane smiled softly and leaned down to peck her lips lightly. "I love you too, Mitch. I love you so much."

She wrapped her arms all the way around his neck, and pulled him all the way down on top of her. But then the guilt hit her. She needed to tell him about the conversation she had with Brian earlier. She didn't want another fight on their hands. She couldn't handle that, especially when she needed him the most.

"Shane, I have to tell you something." She whispered. Shane didn't move, just nuzzled his nose against the skin of her neck.

"What?"

"I talked Brian a few days ago." She immediately felt Shane tense. She knew he would be trying to control his anger at the moment, and she hoped that he would just listen to her for a minute. "I called him to tell him straightforward to leave me alone. I just wanted to put an end to it, Shane. I didn't want him coming here around me or your family. I couldn't risk it. I don't want anything to happen to you or your family."

Shane was silent for several moments. "Did it work? Is he going to leave you alone?"

This was the hard part. "I don't know." She said honestly, because she really had no idea what Brian is going to do. If he was going to do anything. "He wouldn't leave Baltimore for just anything, and I don't think I meant enough to him for him to leave the turf unprotected." She hoped that was the truth anyway, and it was just going to have to do for now.

"Maybe we should just stay cautious, Mitch. I don't want anything to happen to you either." He whispered.

Mitchie shook her head. "Better me than you or your family."

His head shot up and that, and she could see the anger in his eyes. "That's not true, Mitchie. You are just as important. Do you understand me? Don't ever think of yourself as anything less." His words were so furious, she had no choice but to nod her head. Shane's jaw clenched and he leaned down so he could rest his forehead against hers. "I love you. I've never meant those words so much in my life. You're everything to me, Mitch. I'll do anything to protect you. Anything."

* * *

**This felt sorta fillerish, but it leads into the biggest part of the story. Pleaseeeeee review. I love reviewsssss.**


End file.
